The Mouseion · Africa, Oceania & the Americas · Africa & Oceania

Africa & Oceania

Textiles, ceramics, gold, ivory, and works for the court and the household from across Africa and the Pacific. We show only objects made to be seen. Sacred objects, and objects whose communities ask that they not be displayed, are left out on purpose.

Walk inThe whole museum

On the walls this month

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  Bracelet — Dogon artist, 18th–19th century, Stone and glass, textile or fiber string
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Wall painting of the Virgin and Child with donors — Northern Highlands artist, ca. 1800, Pigment over gesso on canvas
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Gold Weight — Akan artist, 18th–19th century, Brass
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Five Men — Lutterodt and Son Studio, ca. 1880–85, Albumen silver print from glass negative
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Interior Hanging — Mende, Vai, or Temne artist, early–mid-19th century, Cotton, wool, natural dye
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Gold Weight (abrammuo): Drum with Jaws of Defeated Enemies — 1800s, Brass
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Mäsqälä qǝddase (liturgical cross) — Northern Highlands artist, 15th century, Copper
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Pendant Icon with St. George and the Virgin and Child Enthroned — Northern or Central Highlands artist, 18th century, Wood, pigment, metal hinge
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Gold Weight (abrammuo): Antelope — 1800s, Copper alloy
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Gold Weight (abrammuo): Geometric Form — 1800s, Copper alloy
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Diptych with Twelve Apostles & St. Paul — Workshop or Circle of Wäldä Maryam, c. 1700, Tempera, wood, textile
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Icon triptych of Ewosṭatewos and eight of his disciples — Northern Highlands artist, late 17th century, Wood, tempera, cord
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Royal ceremonial beadwork: breast cover (incebetha) — 1800s, Glass beads, hide, and sinew
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Bird gold weight — Akan artist, 18th–19th century, Brass
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Wrapper (Lamba Akotifahana) — 1860–90, Silk and dye
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Geometric gold weight — Akan artist, 16th–17th century, Brass
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• 
  Gold Weight (abrammuo): Geometric — 1800s, Copper alloy
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Man's kente (prestige cloth) — Asante-Akan artist, 19th century, Cotton, silk
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Double Diptych Icon Pendant — early 18th century, Wood, tempera pigment, string
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Wrapper (Lamba Akotifahana) — 1800s, Silk
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Gold Weight (abrammuo): Fish — 1800s, Copper alloy
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Knife-sheath tip (sika boha) — 1800s, Gold
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Book of the Gospels — Northern Highlands artist, late 14th–early 15th century, Parchment (vellum), acacia wood, tempera, ink
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Arganonä Maryam (The Organ of Mary) prayer book — Baselyos, also known as "The Ground Hornbill Master" (1650–1700), late 17th century, Parchment, pigment ink, wood, leather, fiber
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Prayer book with case (mahdar) — Wäldä Maryam, early-mid 19th century, Parchment (vellum), pigment (red, blue, ochre, and black), leather, wood, string
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Prestige stool with lion — 19th century, Wood
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Helmet — 1800s, Brass
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Knife-sheath tip (sika boha) — 1800s, Gold
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Abamphruwa (gold-dust box) — 19th century, Brass
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Scabbard — 1800s, Wood
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Comb (cisakulo) — mid- to late 1800s, Wood, glass beads, and natural fibers
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Betel nut container — 1800s, Cast brass with silver inlays, weave fabric (handle), glass beads
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Scabbard — 1800s, Wood with rattan strips
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Knife-sheath tip (sika boha) — 1800s, Gold
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Scabbard — 1800s, Wood
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
• 
  Sword (Kalis or Sundang) — 1800s, wood and metal
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Whistle (kasengosengo) — late 1800s, Probably hippopotamus ivory
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Knife Handle Cover — 1800s, Gold
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Headrest — ca. 1862 (?), Wood, fiber
  Original: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Disk Pendant (akrafokɔnmu) — 1800s, before 1896, Gold
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
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  Prestige stool (Kuo fo) — possibly 1800s, Wood, cotton, plant fiber, glass beads, and indigo
  Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art

More of Africa, Oceania & the Americas

• The Ancient Americas — Olmec jade, Maya painted vessels, Andean textiles and gold, and the ceramics of the peoples of the Americas before…

Where the works come from

Every work in the Mouseion is a real piece, out of copyright everywhere, shown from the open collections of the museums that hold it — each label names the original’s museum and links to its page there.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access
• The Art Institute of Chicago — public-domain collection
• The Cleveland Museum of Art — Open Access
• Wikimedia Commons — public-domain photographs of works held elsewhere