Passport Mask
Small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand, passport masks were never made to be worn and openly displayed. Instead, they were kept out of sight,…
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Journal
Peoples, deities and the objects they made: notes on the cultures behind the collection.
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Bembe Milk Vessels
Milk is collected in wooden vessels, cylindrical in shape among the Bembe and Tutsi; the Hima crafted them with a slightly flared base called Ekyanzi.
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Damarau or Sago Storage Vessel
Damarau are decorated with the faces of animals such as pigs and birds, masks and bush spirits.
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Tulu or Sleeping Rug
Carpets from Asia Minor and especially Anatolia, Turkey, have been appreciated and collected in the West for centuries. Each region has their own style of weaving, some of…
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Ukhamba or Ritual Beer Vessel
The Zulu people of South Africa traditionally crafted large earthenware vessels used for brewing, storing and serving beer. Sorghum beer, made from maize, holds particular importance in Zulu…
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Sanggori or Serpent Form Head Ornament
The Sanggori, a curved serpent-shaped brass head ornament from Central Sulawesi, has roots extending back to the late Bronze Age culture. It was traditionally worn by chieftains during…
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Budai or Laughing Buddha
The popular figure of Budai, also known as the Laughing Buddha, is often mistaken for the historical Gautama Buddha. However, Budai was in fact a Chinese monk named…
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Ashetu Ceremonial Hat
The Ashetu is known as a prestige hat and is reserved for high ranking men and elite dignitaries of the Bamun or Bamileke people of Cameroon.