Cham, Mwana, and others
Healing Vessel (Kwandalha)
Mid-20th century
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Terracotta, 8 1/4 × 5 1/4 in. (21 × 13.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Jonathan and Ellen Maltz
Object Number
2016.189
The raw emotion sculpted onto the faces of these figures resonates with the human experience of pain, loss, and suffering. These artworks were created to memorialize the dead and heal the sick, and their vivid, emotional realism allows them to speak across time and space. Although their bodies may appear crude or unrefined, their emotions are all too real.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 2016; Jonathan and Ellen Maltz by purchase; Barry Hecht
"Subverting Beauty: African Anti-Aesthetics", Jul 15, 2018 - Nov 17, 2019, BMA, Kevin Tervala.
