Head Effigy Vessel

between 1300 and 1500

Mississippian, Native American

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The Head Effigy Vessel addresses an ongoing relationship between the worlds of the living and the dead. The pot depicts the head and the face of a deceased ancestor, a spiritually endowed leader, whose physical remains are laden with spiritual power. "Power" has the ability to ward off disease, to increase good fortune, or to cause benefit or destruction depending upon how it is used.

Title Head Effigy Vessel

Artwork Date between 1300 and 1500

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. Native American

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

Medium Buffware with red slip pigment

Dimensions Overall: 6 3/8 × 7 × 7 1/4 inches (16.2 × 17.8 × 18.4 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Founders Society Purchase with funds from the Mary G. and Robert H. Flint Foundation

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. 1986.43

Markings

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Provenance

1978/1979, found on the Campbell site (Pemiscot County, Missouri, USA);
Joe Holly (USA).
(Tony Berlant, Sun Circles, Santa Monica, California, USA);
1986-present, purchase by 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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Published References

Westbrook, Kent C. Legacy in Clay: Prehistoric Ceramic Art of Arkansas. Little Rock, 1982, p. 43, no. 32.

"Notes on recent acquisitions." Bulletin of the DIA 64, no. 1 (1988): 56 (ill.).

Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Southport, Connecticut, 1994, p. 32.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Mississippian, Native American, Head Effigy Vessel, between 1300 and 1500, buffware with red slip pigment. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase with funds from the Mary G. and Robert H. Flint Foundation, 1986.43.