Serpent Headdress
Serpent Headdress
Attribution follows a published museum catalogue or peer-reviewed scholarship. Object is held in a public collection under a published accession number.
Nearly five feet tall, this serpent headdress towered above crowds when danced. Its two faces seemed to look in all directions. Secured by a conical framework of palm branches on a costumed man’s head, it appeared at key points in initiation rites for both boys and girls. This multi-colored snake may be the serpent-spirit Ninkinanka. It can be likened to the rainbow, whose changing colors evoke how boys transform into men during initiation. A staged circa 1954 photograph depicts the serpent headdress now at the CMA. Serpent masquerades stopped in the mid-1950s when most Nalu and Baga people converted to Islam.
Catalogued by Cleveland Museum of Art as “Serpent Headdress”, dated late 1800s–early 1900s. Harvested from the museum’s open-access record; every field below is copied from that record and none of it has been inferred.
Record
| People / culture | Baga |
|---|---|
| Country | Guinea |
| Common name | Serpent Headdress |
| Form category | Headdress or crest worn atop the head |
| Materials | Wood (Nauclea pobeguinii) and paint |
| Dimensions | Overall: 148 cm (58 1/4 in.) |
Provenance
Jacqueline (and Maurice?) Nicaud by purchase. Possibly village of Kanfrande [Kanfarandé], District of Boke, French Guinea. (ca.1954–1960)
Mathias Komor, New York, NY (by 1960)
Emery May Norweb (aka Mrs. R. Henry Norweb) by purchase (1960)
The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift (1960–)
| Collection | Cleveland Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Accession number | 1960.37 |
Source
https://clevelandart.org/art/1960.37
This record is a catalogue entry, not an appraisal, valuation or legal determination. Nothing here should be read as evidence that an object was lawfully acquired or exported.