Bird Standard (early to mid-1900s): Art, History and Details

Bird Standard (early to mid-1900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

An eagle depicted in flight originally surmounting a long staff, the bird standard is offered to the winner of a hoeing contest between young men. The competition is not only meant to promote social cohesion and solidarity, it also serves to encourage fertility. Honoring the endurance of a victorious farmer, such a bird standard is also used as a display sculpture during the funeral of a former champion or a member of his courtyard or family unit.

Object facts

• Title: Bird Standard
• Date: early to mid-1900s
• Culture: Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Senufo-style carver
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: Wood and upholstery studs
• Dimensions: Overall: 42 cm (16 9/16 in.)
• Collection: African Art
• Department: African Art
• Accession number: 1974.204

Collection credit

Gift of Katherine C. White

Further reading listed by the museum

• Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 24.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.