Kran
Dance Headdress
possibly Kran, Early 20th century
Scroll
Kran
Dance Headdress
possibly Kran, Early 20th century
Physical Qualities
Cloth, basketry, monkey fur, feline fur, cowrie shells, metal bells and glass, 43 x 46 x 30 cm. (without train); 85 H cm. (with train)
Credit Line
Gift of Catherine O'Carroll Bussell and Robert Bruce Bussell, Arlington, Virginia
Object Number
1998.436
Collected by Conrad Turner Bussell in Liberia between 1923 and 1929, this dynamic headdress would once have been worn to spectacular effect during dances. Mr. Bussell was sent by Calvin Coolidge to Liberia to survey its boundaries. Instead, he was made Supervisor of Customs by Liberia's President Charles Dunbar Burgess King, and later made financial advisor to President King. During his years in Liberia, Mr. Bussell collected many works of art including this headdress and the female portrait figure also on view in this case.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1998; collected in Liberia between 1923-1929 by the parents of donor (Bruce Bussell): Conrad Turner Bussell and Pauline Bussell. Mr. Bussell was sent by the U.S. Government under President Calvin Coolidge to survey the boundaries of Liberia. He was, instead, made Supervisor of Customs by President Charles Dunbar Burgess King of Liberia, and later made Financial Advisor to President King. Mrs. Bussell arrived in 1926.
