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Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)
Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)
Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)

Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)

Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.74.89_print_front_bw.jpg)

Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.74.89_print_front_bw.jpg)

Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_side.jpg)

Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_side.jpg)

Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.74.89_print_back_bw.jpg)

Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.74.89_print_back_bw.jpg)

Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_edited_version_SL1.jpg)

Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_edited_version_SL1.jpg)

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Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)

Arts of Africa

This figure may have served to represent the guardian tutelary spirit of an important Chokwe diviner. Even with its right arm missing, the figure’s formal integrity and elegance remain intact. Over her left shoulder, the woman holds an antelope horn, usually a container for potent substances.
CULTURE Chokwe
MEDIUM Wood, copper alloy
  • Possible Place Made: Mahokolo region, Angola
    • DATES late 19th century
    DIMENSIONS 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 74.89
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Marcia and John Friede
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Wooden standing female figure. It clasps a horn over its left shoulder and rests on its own circular base. The figure wears no clothing. Its elaborate coiffure consists of incised undulating forms topped by a flower-like decoration. There are metal rings on each ankle. Condition: erosion at back and underside of base. Lips show some losses. A toe on the left foot is void as is the left arm from the shoulder. Headdress worn at rear. Portion of flower-like decoration void. Insect erosion at back and underside of base. Lips show some losses.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Chokwe. Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya), late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE threequarter, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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    Chokwe. <em>Female Figure with Horn (Kaponya)</em>, late 19th century. Wood, copper alloy, 12 1/4 x 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 8.9 x 8.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Marcia and John Friede, 74.89. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 74.89_threequarter_edited_version_SL1.jpg)

    TAGS

    horn
    wood
    copper alloy
    female figure
    navel
    statue
    woman
    African
    Chokwe
    Female
    Female Figure with Horn
    Kaponya
    Late 19th Century
    Cooper
    Carved
    Lwena
    sculpture
    brown
    braids
    nude
    anklets
    naked

    TAGS

    horn
    wood
    copper alloy
    female figure
    navel
    statue
    woman
    African
    Chokwe
    Female
    Female Figure with Horn
    Kaponya
    Late 19th Century
    Cooper
    Carved
    Lwena
    sculpture
    brown
    braids
    nude
    anklets
    naked

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