Sukuma
Female Figure (Mabinda)
Sukuma, Early 20th century
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Sukuma
Female Figure (Mabinda)
Sukuma, Early 20th century
Physical Qualities
Wood, 9 1/16 x 3 9/16 x 1 15/16 in. (23 x 9 x 5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Nancy and Robert H. Nooter, Washington, D.C.
Object Number
1994.266
Human figures in wood are rarer in East Africa than they are in West and Central Africa. But among the farmers of the Sukuma people, small figures are made. Known as mabinda, or "wonders," they are part of the arsenal of techniques, dances, songs, tricks, and acrobatics that composers and dance leaders utilize in order to draw spectators to their side of the dance arena in a public performance.
Frederick John Lamp, "See the Music Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art." New York: Prestel, 2003, p.111, ill.
