Figure of colonial district officer · Ghana, Akan, Nana Osei Bonsu of Kumasi (1900-1977) · ID: 3050107
Timothy Koock (1944-2022), Fredericksburg, Texas, USA
Estate of Timothy Koock
Description
wood, bright colors, metal,
This figure is published in the standard work on Ghanaian art by Herbert Cole and Doran Ross (1977, p. 177) in a photograph from 1976. It was part of a display ensemble of “ntan” figures carved by Osei Bonsu in 1933. Another figure from this ensemble, “the prisoner”, was auctioned by Zemanek-Münster on 15 November 2008.
Nana Osei Bonsu of Kumasi (1900-1977) was the best known Ashanti artist and court carver to the Asantehene.
The figure ensembles generally feature a “queen mother”, a chief, a colonial district officer, a policeman, a prisoner, and bell ringers. These figures are often doweled onto a table with an elaborate carpentered tree. The whole forms a stage set that is put in place near the drum at the beginning of the performance and taken down when it is over. The figures have no other function than to enhance the display.
“Ntan” bands were popular among the Asante peoples of Ghana between the 1920s and 1950s. They performed on occasions such as naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals and traditional festivals—on any occasion where entertainment was needed. This is in contrast to other musical instruments and performances that were reserved for the court.
Publications
Cole, Herbert M. & Doran H. Ross, The Arts of Ghana, Los Angeles 1977, p. 177; Cole, Herbert M., Maternity, Brussels 2017, p. 220; Doran H. Ross, "The Art of Osei Bonsu", in: African Arts, February 1984, Vol. XVII, No 2, p. 31, ill 4AHDRC: 0208220