Grief and Mourning Rituals

A wooden post of stacked geometric forms and a small seated figure on top, seated at a table.
Mahafaly
Funerary Post
wood
56 1/2 in x 7 3/4 in x 8 in (143.51 cm x 19.69 cm x 20.32 cm)
Gift of the Robbins Center for Cross Cultural Communications in memory of Warren M. Robbins
Standing human figure on a round base with hands at the sides. There is a metal loop around one ankle and a string of black beads around the neck. On each cheek are four horizontal marks topped by three vertical marks. The hair is in a conical shape with a raised central groove surrounded by diagonal lines on each side and coated with blue pigment. 
Yoruba
Twin Figure
carved wood, beads, and blue pigment
9 7/16 in x 3 5/16 in x 3 in (23.97 cm x 8.41 cm x 7.62 cm)
Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art
Standing female figure with each foot on a small base. The hands rest at the sides and around the neck, waist, and ankles are strings of various colored beads. Cowrie shells are strung around the wrists. The pupils of the eyes are metal and on each cheek there are three vertical grooves. The hair is in a rounded comb-like shape with designs of arches and diagonal lines, coated in blue pigment. 
Yoruba
Female Twin Figure
carved wood, beads, metal, and blue pigment
9 15/16 in x 3 3/8 in x 3 1/8 in (25.24 cm x 8.57 cm x 7.94 cm)
Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art
Cloth figure of a human, bound around human remains. The figure is in a seated position with arms outstretched. The torso and neck are cylindrical and elongated.
Bembe
Reliquary figure (muzidi)
dyed woven cotton cloth, vegetable fiber, cane, wood pegs
15 7/8 x 14 11/16 x 9 1/16 in. (40.3 x 37.2 x 22.9 cm)
Anonymous Gift
Photograph of a tableau from a Catholic church in Calvario, Patzuaro, Mexico. The scene includes a male figure at the center, with two women and one man arranged behind him.
Paul Strand
Calvario, Patzcuaro
photogravure on paper
15 3/4 in x 12 3/8 in (40.01 cm x 31.43 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip C. Davis through the Friends of the Museum of Art
A view down onto a large public square where a long line of people file into a stone mausoleum.
Dmitri Baltermants
View of the Queue at Lenin's Tomb from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin
gelatin silver print on paper
11 in x 14 in (27.94 cm x 35.56 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James Agah, Class of 1989 (BBA)
Elliott Erwitt
Jackie Kennedy at Funeral, from "Portfolio of 15 Photographs"
gelatin silver print on paper
16 in. x 19 15/16 in. ( 40.7 cm x 50.7 cm )
Gift of Gerald Lotenberg
A group of women all wearing black with their heads covered in black mourning a man in a suit laying down. His hands are crossed over his body and he has a beard.
Eugene W. Smith
Spanish Wake, from "W. Eugene Smith. A Portfolio of Ten Photographs"
gelatin silver print on paper
12 15/16 in x 8 5/16 in (32.86 cm x 21.11 cm)
Gift of Maxine and Lawrence K. Snider
A group of Hassidic men standing over a body covered in a cloth. There are windows behind them.
Leonard Freed
Jewish Funeral, Jerusalem, Israel
vintage gelatin silver print on paper
8 x 10 in. ( 20.32 x 25.4 cm )
Gift of Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80
A black and white photo of three canoes.
Caleb Cain Marcus
Waiting to Carry the Dead (The Ganga, India)
black and white digital print on paper
17 1/2 in x 19 15/16 in (44.45 cm x 50.64 cm)
Gift of Jeffrey Sarrett
A red earthenware ceramic model of a goat pen, containing one ram and three ewes, with a small shed over the pen with stairs.  The exterior and goats are covered in a green lead glaze with iridescence and calcification.
Chinese
Goat Pen
earthenware with glaze
6 15/16 in x 8 7/8 in x 7 7/8 in (17.62 cm x 22.54 cm x 20 cm);6 7/8 in x 8 7/8 in x 7 7/8 in (17.46 cm x 22.54 cm x 20 cm)
Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Helmut Stern
Syrian
Prayer Book of Service for the Dead, manuscript page
ink on glazed paper
( )
Museum Purchase

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Anthropology — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Comparative — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Death and dying — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Mortality — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Religion — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Social and cultural conventions — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)
Traditions — by seth@whirl-i-gig.com (February 13 2017 @ 12:26 pm)

Part of 5 Learning Collections

American Orientalist art at the turn of the 20th century
<p>America Encounters Asia in Art</p>

169 Collection Object Sources

Funerary Post (2014/2.72)
Twin Figure (1987/2.79)
Calvario, Patzcuaro (1971/2.126.12)
Goat Pen (1990/1.211)
Here Lies- (1943.58)
Cemetery Gates (1983/1.295.12)
Ward's Cemetery (1983/1.295.3)
Tomb Guardian (2004/2.132.1)
Tomb Guardian (2004/2.132.2)
James Chaney (2011/1.105)
Andrew Goodman (2011/1.107)
Michael Schwerner (2011/1.106)
We Shall Overcome (2011/1.104)
Warsaw (2011/1.101)
M.L.K. Jr. (1996/2.5)
Day of All Dead (1987/1.174.8)
Covered Jar (1996/2.44)
Tripod Jar (2003/2.22)
Dog (1993/1.96)
Tomb of Theodoric (2005/1.440)
Female Figure (1993/1.107)
Male Figure (1993/1.106)
Dog (1969/2.87)
Cooking Stove (1974/1.174)
Jue wine cup (1974/1.170)
Funerary Jar (2000/1.39)
Covered Jar (1971/2.69)
Miravan (1995/1.82)
The Pale Horse (1958/2.1)
Horse (1993/1.62)
Trinity Church (1989/1.72)
The Lamentation (1960/1.168)
Shiva as Bhairava (2001/2.131)
Angel of Death (1958/1.103)

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Last Updated

April 7, 2020 6:28 p.m.

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