Dance Crest
| Artist | Diga (a Koro carver) |
|---|---|
| Culture | Jaba |
| Title | Dance Crest (Nyamfaik) |
| Date | Ca. 1943 |
| Medium | Wood, pigment, seeds, and and fiber |
| Dimensions | Object: 16 5/8 × 15 1/2 × 4 1/8 in. (42.2 × 39.4 × 10.5 cm) Overall: 16 5/8 × 15 1/2 × 4 1/8 in. (42.2 × 39.4 × 10.5 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Roy and Sophie Sieber, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 77.81 |
| This artwork is currently on view. | |
This dance crest has a large, central "H"-like shape with its arms and legs curving slightly outward. There are large, fibrous tassels hanging downwards from the arms, each colored with red pigment.
Little is known about the traditional arts of the Koro and Jaba, neighboring peoples living in central Nigeria. Based on 1958 fieldwork when he acquired this crest, Africanist art historian Roy Sieber reported that it was carved by a Koro sculptor named Diga for use in a Jaba community and that its name means “guardian of Faik [a village].” He further noted that the crest appeared with other abstract headdresses biannually at dances associated with the agricultural cycle.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Dance Crest | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=77.81