Ceremonial Drum

early 20th century

Baga, African

On View

African, Level 1, North Wing

Ceremonial Drum: 1 of Collection Gallery

Ceremonial Drum: 2 of Collection Gallery

Ceremonial Drum: 3 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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About the Artwork

This carved wood drum was initially owned and played by a women’s association known as A-tekan among the Baga people of Guinea, West Africa. Of the many drums the A-tekan employs in its activities, this type is exceptional because of its large size and distinctive imagery that glorifies womanhood.

Called ndef, such drums epitomize feminine power because, although the artists who make them are always male, Baga women commission them and strictly control their design. The drum’s imagery, showing abstractions of bull’s horns, also articulates women’s critical roles and prerogatives in Baga society. Typically, the A-tekan’s members play the drum during their annual weeklong initiation ceremonies, at members’ funerals, and at their daughters’ weddings.

Title Ceremonial Drum

Artwork Date early 20th century

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. African

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Baga

Medium Wood and animal hide

Dimensions Overall: 42 × 20 inches (106.7 × 50.8 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department African Art

Credit Gift of Bonnie Ann Larson

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2020.94

Markings

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Provenance

Bonnie A. Larson (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA);
2020-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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