About this artwork
The performance of the snake headdress required extraordinary strength and balance. With the headdress lashed to a conical framework of palm branches and balanced atop the head, the dancer performed sharp, quick movements; he dipped and rotated the sculpture by bending at the knees and turning at the waist. The snake is associated with the swamp-dwelling boa constrictor spirit, who blesses humankind with rain, fertility, and wealth. Snake headdress performances were widespread until the mid-1950s, when Islamic revolutionaries led a campaign to consolidate the religious and national identity of the nascent Republic of Guinea.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of Africa
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Culture
- Baga
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Title
- Snake Headdress (a-Mantsho-ña-Tshol or Inap)
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Place
- Guinea (Object made in)
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Date
- 1875–1925
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Medium
- Wood and pigment
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Dimensions
- H.: 205.7 cm (81 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman
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Reference Number
- 2007.572