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Exhibition Guide

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Figurative Palm Wine Cup

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    Holding This Cup

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    Picturing It In Use

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Art Object Info

Taste matters. In the Kuba Kingdom, men were not born into high rank at court. They had to prove their merit before being appointed courtiers. Acquiring and displaying fine art was one way to prove the owner’s good judgment, intelligence, wealth, and sophistication—qualities required to earn a title. This refined cup was commissioned by an ambitious and cultured man to present palm wine to guests. It would have been passed around the circle to each man present. The woman’s cultivated hairline and the pronounced shape of her head indicate her noble status.

 

Medium:
Wood
Size:
H: 7.25'
W: 5.3'
D: 4.75'
Date:
19th Century
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger BMA 1954.145.110

Art Object Info

Taste matters. In the Kuba Kingdom, men were not born into high rank at court. They had to prove their merit before being appointed courtiers. Acquiring and displaying fine art was one way to prove the owner’s good judgment, intelligence, wealth, and sophistication—qualities required to earn a title. This refined cup was commissioned by an ambitious and cultured man to present palm wine to guests. It would have been passed around the circle to each man present. The woman’s cultivated hairline and the pronounced shape of her head indicate her noble status.

 

Medium:
Wood
Size:
L: 4.75'
W: 5.3'
H: 7.25'
Date:
19th Century
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger BMA 1954.145.110