GothamGallery Fine African Art Sudan Dinka Headrest V

Description

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Exquisite African Sudan Dinka Headrest
Measurement:        Height: 6.75 Width: 22 Depth: 4.75 Inches
Measurement:        Height: 17 Width: 56 Depth: 12 Centimeters
Measurement Headrest Only
Material:                Wood, Metal Studs
Estimated Age:       Early 20th Century
Condition:             Very Good
Remarks:               Beautiful utilitarian art animal head motif excellent natural brown patina
Shipping:               US East Coast - Estimated .00
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Documentation of Authenticity / Provenance Will Be Included With This Piece
CONDITION
Worn areas, minor wood deterioration, minor chips and scrapes, overall condition very good. Thank you and please view my other items.
BACKGROUND
The Dinka are a group of tribes of south Sudan, inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They are mainly agro-pastoral people, relying on cattle herding at riverside camps in the dry season and growing millet (Awuou) and other varieties of grains (rap) in fixed settlements during the rainy season. They number around 1.5 million people, constituting about 4% of the population of the entire country, and constitute the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka, or as they refer to themselves, Muonyjang (singular) and Mounyjieng (plural), are one of the branches of the River Lake Nilotes (mainly sedentary agri-pastoral peoples of East Africa who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Maasai) . They are dark African people, differing markedly from the Arabic speaking ethnic groups inhabiting northern Sudan. Dinka are sometimes noted for their height. The Dinka have no centralised political authority, instead comprising many independent but interlinked clans. Certain of those clans traditionally provide ritual chiefs, known as the "masters of the fishing spear" or "beny bith" Lienhardt 1965), who provide leadership for the entire people and appear to be at least in part hereditary. Their language called Dinka as well as "thuɔŋjäŋ (thuongjang)" is one of the Nilotic family of languages, belonging to the Chari-Nile branch of the Nilo-Saharan family. The name means "people" in the Dinka language. It is written using the Latin alphabet with a few additions. Some of the most beautiful art from the Dinka are headrests. Here is a passage from William Dewey – Africa The Art of a Continent - "As many peoples of eastern Africa make headrests/stools, it is difficult to attribute these objects to specific groups unless they have been collected in the field. Most are three-legged with one side flattened. Mack and Coote aptly describe the carving process as 'opportunistic', going on to say: 'The simple forms produced by the Dinka and Nuer are often little more than the result of judicious pruning of a found branch to produce a three- or four-legged stool or headrest. Zoomorphic features, such as a tail and a head, are sometimes "brought out". Among the Shilluk, Westermann noted that neckrests were used by men so that their hairstyles would not be spoilt during sleep. Many east African pastoralists regard coiffure primarily as an indicator of status. Among these groups a young man is entitled to begin wearing the distinctive coiffure that marks him as an adult only after he is initiated. As each member of the age set rises through the hierarchical society, changes in jewellery, hairstyle and feather decorations for the hair often mark each promotion. The use of headrests is often associated with this advancement and the headrests themselves become status svmbols. Whether this pattern is true for the Shilluk and Dinka is unknown, but it certainly seems likely as Shilluk men still wear elaborate coiffures, and among the Dinka headrests/stools are primarily used by older men (Jeremy Coote, personal communication). The Dinka multi-purpose headrests/stools also provide a convenient place to sit as it is not considered proper for elderly men to sit directly on the ground. No special skills were associated with the construction of headrests by the Shilluk and any man could make them alongside such activities as house-building and weapon-making. Headrests were made to resemble the forms of various animals, including ostriches and other birds. The symbolic importance of such objects is highlighted by the Shilluk belief that this headrest form was invented by Nyakang, their most important ancestor, culture hero and the founder of the Shilluk dynasty. The Anuak held that if the king-elect was able to balance on a three-legged stool during his investiture ceremony he was acknowledged as the rightful heir."
Painter Fred Uhlman words - Most of the artists I admired, Picasso, Modigliani, Deraini, to mention only a few, had collected African art and had been profoundly influenced by it. Shortly afterwards I bought the Baule Fetish and the Baule bobbin which are still two of the finest pieces in my collection. It is easy to see why I bought them and why from that moment I have never stopped collecting. The head of the bobbin or heddle - pulley which is after all only a functional object for the purpose of weaving seemed to me then and today as beautiful as a Greek goddess. The fetish moved me as deeply as the bobbin by its silent tragic dignity and its air of profound meditation.
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