A tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2

Christine Mullen Kreamer

Any serious collecting ... must come down to an aesthetic decision, which is what constitutes connoisseurship. (1)

During his long, distinguished, and productive career as a leader in the study of African art history, Roy Sieber (Fig. 1) turned much of his attention to objects--their contexts and their aesthetic qualities as ways to understand "the premises and the logic that every society builds for itself" (Sieber 1977:156). For almost half a century, he used museum exhibitions to explore this concept. Indeed, he maintained that "The greatest acknowledgement of the aesthetic power of a work of art is that it can still move us when it is presented totally out of context in the highly artificial atmosphere of the museum" (Sieber 1971 [1959]:127). In the last issue of African Arts (Spring 2003), the first of a two-part memorial to the late art historian, I offered a broad overview of Sieber's life and accomplishments (Kreamer 2003). Here I consider his love of objects and his contributions as the consummate connoisseur of tradition-based African arts. As with the first introductory essay, this one will include insights generously shared by the Sieber family.(2) I hope that, taken together, these two issues of African Arts will indicate Roy Sieber's impact on the field of African art history, and, more importantly, convey the depth of the affection and gratitude felt for him. While his passing in 2001 was profoundly sad for all of us who knew and loved Roy, his lifetime of achievements and his enduring legacy in the field of African art history are cause for celebration).(3)

"Begin and end with the object."

Roy Sieber always spoke eloquently about the power of objects to move us as well as the peoples of file African societies within which they were created. He held that the arts "are symptomatic of cultural values and that they are for the most part oriented positively, that is, toward man's search for a secure and ordered existence" (Sieber 1971 [1959]:205). Actively rejecting Western notions of African art as "primitive" (Sieber 1968), he advocated an exploration and assessment of audience responses to works of art rather than a reliance oil culture-bound and largely Western definitions of art and aesthetics (Sieber 1973). Where specialized vocabulary for the arts seemed to be lacking in certain African cultures, Sieber suggested the possibility of an unvoiced aesthetic of broadly shared concepts as the basis for aesthetic evaluations (1971 [1959J:128-29). His emphasis on the social function of arts as a critical part of African aesthetic concepts further expanded consideration of African arts and aesthetics in context.(4)

Almost fifty years ago, Sieber urged us "to comprehend [African] sculptures in the context of the cultural commitments of the artist[s]" who created them, advice that remains relevant today (Sieber 1956). He sought to challenge Western perceptions of African art by focusing on specific types of African objects he referred to as "tough" (Fig. 3)--ones that were less visible in Western collections, such as lbibio masks depicting the disease gangosa, or tertiary yaws, which disfigures the face, or "fierce" Ekpo society masks with their blackened, encrusted surfaces and dramatic features.

Tough in conception, subject and form, they may be termed ugly or...fierce....Is the depiction of unpleasantness a reason for aesthetic rejection? Must an aesthetically successful work of art necessarily be beautiful or good?...It would seem that only in unfamiliar arts produced for inadequately comprehended uses by little understood cultures do we reject such uncomfortable images... [which] can be described as powerful, as fierce, but not as ugly, for there is neither an absence of beauty nor its conscious contrast. (Sieber 1990:342-43)

Sieber could have had the National Museum of African Art's Igala shrine figure (Fig. 4) in mind when he wrote of such "tough" works as "aesthetically successful, totally calculated, almost overwhelmingly powerful sculptures. They are truly awesome by intention" (1990:343). In his consideration of cross-cultural aesthetic concepts, Sieber sought alternatives, not oppositions that contrast good and bad, beautiful and ugly--borrowing what Robert Farris Thompson called "apart-phrasing"s to consider concepts that are not polar opposites but distinct and separate entities that are part of a continuum of aesthetic expression. He also emphasized what he felt was a collaborative process in understanding and appreciating African arts, one that involved "our [Western] aesthetic, their [African] authenticity and validity of the piece" (in Nyden 2000). Bringing those two perspectives to bear in considering the merits of individual works of art and understanding that aesthetic judgments are space- and time-bound were critical components in Sieber's approach to African art connoisseurship (Sieber 1993:3).

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1. Roy Sieber, 1966. Bloomington, November 8, 1966. Photo: Unnamed phrotographer, indiana University News Bureau. Courtesy of Indiana University Archives (99/075) Sieber poses amid west African masks at an African art exhibition tie organized at the Indiana University Art Museum.

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2. Helmet mask. Igbo peoples, Nigeria Wood, pigment: 527cm (20 75") Collection of Roy and Sophia Sieber.

Indeed, over the course of his life, Sieber emerged as the leading connoisseur of the arts of Africa. The establishment of connoisseurship as a field of study is often credited to the legendary Paul J. Sachs. In the early 1920s, Sachs,who was Associate Director of Harvard's Fogg Museum, created a graduate course, "Museum Work and Museum Problems," that was designed "to implant scholarly standards in future museum workers; to educate their eyes so that they might be helped to see" (Tassell 2002).6 Sieber seems instinctively to have embraced Sachs's approach, educating his eye to the diversity of forms, styles, and qualities of African art in a number of ways: through formal study in African art history (he earned the first Ph.D. in the field in 1957); through the meticulous examination and handling of African art during his years of teaching, museum work, and building public and private African art collections, including his own; and through the insights of others.

"Connoisseurship," as Sieber defined it, "involves understanding the subtleties of a given object type and recognizing the difference in style and form which may occur within the category. It means knowing that more than one kind of style or form may be represented, but that all genuine examples conform to the general requirements of the object" (1984:3). For Africanist art historians to achieve that high level of visual and intellectual fluency, Sieber promoted object-based field research that encouraged both a broad survey of the arts in any given African society and an in depth look at the range of forms and techniques within a particular object cat egory. In addition, Africanist art historians needed to know "something of the tools of the anthropologist," as Sieber phrased it in recalling his own research methodology, in order to understand the artworks" historical and cultural contexts (1968:66). This multifaceted approach was especially critical in the early days o[ the discipline, when knowledge of objects and their contexts of use was still emerging, and the boundaries of what constituted the study of African arts were still being defined.

Roy Sieber called upon students, colleagues, and collectors to "begin and end with the object." This principle of art historical inquiry underscored his firm conviction that the focus on (he object is what distinguishes art history from other disciplines, and that the methodology employed by art historians must be used to explain the object (see interview in Ross 1992:39). He clarified this point in a 1993 interview essay:

When I speak about "the object," I'm talking about style, form, technique, aesthetic, and so forth... [A]nthropology museums....tell the story of a culture and then illustrate it with objects. The art museum tends to focus on the object and to use whatever other information helps to build a bridge of understanding to that object. And this is an old difference which maybe is beginning to disappear, but it still remains a distinction. (Sieber 1993:5)

To develop a fluency in the formal and aesthetic qualities of African arts, Sieber relied on experienced collectors who would share with him their knowledge and preferences in building their own collections. In African Arts interview with Doran Ross, he fondly recalled his sessions with Raymond Wielgus in the late 1950s and 1960s when, in Wielgus's Chicago apartment, the two would look at a group of objects displayed on a shelf and each would argue to get rid of one:

Which one? Why? We would fight and carry on in the most delightful way you can imagine. It sharpened both my sense of aesthetics anti my sense of how to deal with an object. The opposite of that is to do an exhibition. Which do you include and why? What larger point are you making with each piece that goes into it? (Sieber in Ross 1992:43)

The Sieber family recalls how visits to Bloomington in the 1970s by the actor and collector Vincent Price and the

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Left: 3. Face mask, Ibibio peoples, Nigeria. Early mid-20th century. Wood, plant fiber, encrustation; 29.5cm (11.6"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 97-8-1 Sieber liked to focus on "tough" works that might be considered unpleasant or ugly.

Right:4. Shrine figure (okega) Igala peoples, Nigeria. Mid 20th century Wood, plant fiber, iron, kaolin, pigment: 622em (24.5") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian institution Gift of Orrel Belle Holcombe in memory of Bryce Holcombe, 876 1.

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5. View of the Sieber living room, Bloomington, 1989/90 Photo: Matthew Sieber

British art historian William Fagg afforded additional opportunities for discussing issues of quality, attribution, and provenance. Indeed, throughout his life, Sieber valued his conversations with scholars, dealers and collectors.(7)

He also learned valuable lessons in quality and selection by watching others. in a brochure for an exhibition of central African pottery at the National Museum of African Art, he wrote: "I once watched a woman in Ire, Nigeria, take the better part of an hour to select one pot from a display of fifty or more apparently identical locally made cooking vessels. She tapped, stroked, turned, and visually studied each until she finally chose one that met her practical and, I am sure, her aesthetic standards" (Sieber 1992).

That recollection illustrates Sieber's conviction that "It is necessary to train one's eye. It is necessary to look, look, look....Learn to look, look critically, to read a lot. Look at objects in museums and associate yourself with the object as much as possible, with its origins, with its meaning, and with what it does to you aesthetically" (in Nyden 2000).

In his later years Sieber was critical of "the tendency [of researchers] to lose touch with the object" through projects that, in an effort to secure research funding, placed too much attention on proving an existing theory or "inventing" a new one. He believed in conducting research, gathering data, and then creating one's own theories and checking them with the data. He admitted that his emphasis on contextual studies may also be partly to blame.

But never did I intend that one should lose touch with the object and the concept of the aesthetic in the society that produces it. Now it's true that it is much easier to ask, "what does this mean?" and ask people questions that are appropriate to answering that question, without seeking to understand "why this object?" or "why this object in preference to that object?" ...This line of inquiry is very difficult, and we've either been too lazy or too fearful to follow it. (Sieber 1993:4-5)

Collecting and Connoisseurship

Connoisseurship and collecting go hand in hand, and Roy Sieber was a shining example of this partnership. His wife, Sophie, remarked to me that she could

6. Power figure (nkisi n'konde). Kongo peoples, Democratic Republic ot the Congo. Wood, iron, pigment; 102iScn] (40.5") Indiana University Art Museum. 77.29. This sculpture was once a fixture in the Sieber household, where it was named Robert never understand why all art historian or an artist would not want to collect and be surrounded by beautiful objects. Clearly, that was never a concern for the Siebers, whose house remains a wonderful accumulation of artworks and memorabilia (Fig. 5). Sieber characterized his and Sophie's taste as that of a "generalist": "The word 'eclectic' comes to mind, but it is the eclectic of an aesthetic which is ours, and which can range from complete abstraction to total naturalism. I don't see why art has any boundaries.... Soph and I call be as idiosyncratic as we damn well please in our own house" (in Ross 1992:41M2).

Sieber distinguished between the idiosyncratic goals and personal tastes that usually motivate private collectors and the more encompassing strategies adopted by public institutions charged with building collections that represent a range of art forms and eras. In acquiring objects for museums as well as for himself, he recognized the "angst" that comes from our acknowledgment of "the cultural ownership of objects, which is separate from the physical ownership of objects."

I say frequently that almost every African work of art we see in a museum has been ripped out of its own private historical context, its own cycle of life. It was made, used until it was used up, and replaced. So, we have something prior to that replacement, In one sense I am delighted that the object is there for me to study and learn about....That is...the virtue of scholarship. But that virtue can itself become an immoral virtue when it is used to justify everything that has been ripped off. (in Ross 1992:44)

In discussing his various reasons for collecting, Sieber noted: "It's the object, first, that has to be attractive...what it is in an academic sense, but [also| what it is in an aesthetic sense" (in Nyden 2000). Upon Sieber's retirement from Indiana University, Patrick O'Meara, a longtime friend and the university's Director of International Affairs, testified to Sieber's "exquisite aesthetic sensibility": "Roy has 'the eye.' I remember driving with the Siebers to visit every antique shop along U.S. 40 ... internal radar seemed to lead him to the special, sometimes hidden, object. He has wonderful aesthetic instinct. For everything." The aesthetic training that went along with building a personal collection of African art was incorporated at home in not-so-subtle ways. Sophie recalled that "'every time a new piece--whether it was furniture or an object--came into the house, everything got rearranged. That sort of fed into his teaching the kids aesthetics, I

Clockwise from top left:

7. Mask. Ijo peoples, Nigeria. Wood; 28.6cm (11.25") Collection of Roy and Sophia Sieber. Purchased sight unseen, this mask was the Siebers' first African acquisition

8. Twin figure (ere ibeji) Yoruba peoples, Nigeria. Wood, pigment; 279cm (11"). Collection of Roy and Sophia Sieber. Sophie Sieber's favorite work in the family collection was acquired in the field in 1958.

9. Figure. Kwele peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wood, pigment; 324cm (1275") Collection of Roy and Sophia Sieber.

This page, clockwise from left: 10. Ceremonial spoon (aerate). Bijogo peoples, Guinea Bissau Early 20th century Wood, 60.6cm (239"). National Museum of African Art, Smith sonian Institution. Gift of Roy and Sophia Sieber in memory of Sylvia H. Williams, 96-10-1.

The Siebers were generous in their donations of artworks to the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) and other museums.

11. Cooking vessel Jukun peoples, Nigeria. Mid 20th century. Ceramic, slip; 36.2cm (14,25") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian institution Gift of Roy and Sophia Sieber in memory of Arnold Gary Rubin, 89-12-1.

12. Figure (njom). Keaka peoples(?), Cameroon. Early mid-201h century. Wood, raffia, encrustation; 37.4cm (14.75") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Gift of Mr. and Mrs, Edgar K Gross, 76 14-4.

Sieber knew what surfaces were appropriate for various kinds of objects. Ritual offerings probably account for this crusty patina.

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13. Mask (mmuo). Igbo peoples. Nigeria. Wood, pigment; H 30.5cm (12"), Indiana University Art Museum, Gift of Frederick Stafford, 59.39

This mask was among the small collection of objects at Indiana University when Sieber began to teach there in 1962

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14. Figure from a meeting-house post Bawok or Pati peoples, Bali-Nyonga kingdom, Cameroon. 1909-14. Wood, pigment; 102.2cm (402"), Indiana University Art Museum. Gill of Rita and John Grunwald, 74.32

While a[ Indiana University, Sieber worked with various collectors, many of whom gave works to the university's art museum.

15. Box in the form of an antelope or cow head Edo peoples, Benin kingdom, Nigeria. Wood, brass; length 34 9cm (13.7"). Indiana University Art Museum. Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, 75.99.4,

The Wielguses, with whom Sieber enjoyed a long friendship, wore important donors to Indiana University

16. Shrine (Ikenga). Igbo peoples, Anambra Valley, Nigeria. Wood, pigment; 61cm (24") Indiana University Art Museum, 70 50. This impressive work is among the purchases Sieber made for the Indiana University Art Museum

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17. Female figure with child. Kongo peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mid-19th -early 20th century Wood (Nauclea latifolia), glass, glass beads, brass tacks, pigment; 25 7cm (10 1") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 83-3-6. Sieber was instrumental in developing the acquisitions program at NMAfA through both purchases and donations from private collectors

18. Equestrian figure Inland Niger Delta style, Mali 13th 15th century Ceramic, 705cm (27.75") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Museum purchase, 86-12-2.

19. Archer figure Inland Niger Delta style, Mall. 13th 15th century Ceramic. 61.9cm (24.4"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 86 12 1.

think."(9) After one weekend-long session of moving pieces around to Sieber's aesthetic satisfaction, a friend "walked into the house after we'd spent a weekend doing that, and he said, 'You've finally got it; don't change a thing!' And that wasn't the point!"

Both at home and professionally, the point was to encourage a careful reading of the object through sustained interaction, and to create a comfortable and effective setting for it in its new context.(10) This attitude fostered a special rapport and ease with objects in the Sieber household. Each of the children, for example, had an African stool, and certain objects acquired distinct personalities. A Kongo power figure (Fig. 6), now in the collection of the Indiana University Art Museum, was affectionately known as "Robert"; the Sieber children often dressed it in clothing to provoke their parents. An Igbo Janus-faced helmet mask (Fig. 2) was known by the family as "the freezer" because it derailed the purchase of a freezer they had been saving up to buy.

In 1957 the Siebers bought their first work of African art, an Ijo mask (Fig. 7). They purchased it sight unseen and before they ever went to Africa. Sophie recalled:

Roy got the piece through Margo
Plass. They were [deaccessioning]
duplicates at the British Museum
and this was up for auction. It was
collected by Talbot in the Delta. And
Margo ... bought it and offered it to
Roy.... Roy was committed to it! ... It
was so much money and we had
three children by then. [But when it
arrived] and I opened the box, ... I
just burst into tears, because it was
worth it.

Sophie's favorite remains a Yoruba ibeji twin figure (Fig. 8) collected by her husband in Nigeria in 1958. A classic example of its type, the sculpture has a well-worn surface that demonstrates its acceptance and use within Yoruba society, key elements in determining its authenticity and value within the culture that produced it. While Ellen maintains that the newest object in the collection was always the one her father liked best, these two early acquisitions remained her parents' sentimental favorites over their decades of collecting.(11)

The Ijo mask and the Yoruba ibeji exhibit formal and aesthetic criteria that Sieber would later articulate as guiding principles in African art connoisseurship--in his classroom teaching and public lectures, and informally whenever new objects were brought to him for inspection. These criteria constitute seven guidelines for the acquisition of tradition-based works by the National Museum of African Art,(12) where Sieber served as Associate Director for Research and Collections from 1983 until his retirement in 1994, when he assumed the title Emeritus:

1. Work must have been used in a traditional context, whether ritual, ceremonial, or mundane. Work must reflect known use patterns through evidences of aging and patination.

2. Work must be a product of traditional artists using traditional media and techniques.

3. Work must be morphologically central to its type. [Sieber defined "central" as within parameters of known variations; a classic example.]

4. Work must fit a known historical sequence.

5. Work must be stylistically central to a major style or substyle, and, if possible, by [a known] artist.

6. Work should have been of highest aesthetic value to African users.

7. Work must be of highest aesthetic esteem from a contemporary Western aesthetic.

The last two points were particularly critical in Sieber's estimation.

In building his own collection, Sieber often acquired outstanding artworks from categories that were the focus of his previous exhibitions, such as furniture and household objects. Naturally, many of them were, in his words, "a total known" in terms of form and style and, thus, over the years, became "less exciting" than some more problematic works. "I love to have a piece that I can say, 'I don't know, and I'm challenged by it.' ... I've reached the point [in my life] where I like surprises." Sieber described how he had seen a Kwele figure (Fig. 9) and been "haunted by it" before he finally "succumbed" and purchased the piece some years later, despite lingering questions about its form and function (in Nyden 2000). Once an artwork was acquired, Sieber was often loath to part with it, whether by trade, sale, or donation. That said, generous donations from the collection of Roy and Sophie Sieber grace a number of museum collections in the United States, including the National Museum of African Art (Figs. 10, 11).

Authenticity

Although it is extremely difficult to
establish legitimacy for an object, it
is often possible to point out what's
wrong with it.
(Sieber 1984:6)

Roy Sieber often discussed a connoisseur's "gut-level reaction" to a work in terms of its quality and authenticity, noting that fakes often "lack the 'sense of assuredness' that a genuine artist can infuse into his work ... [A] harder to define quality, this dynamism of the authentic piece must be present." He looked to "subtle shifts in form and style" as evidence of production for markets outside of "home [indigenous] consumption" (Sieber 1984:1, 3). Sieber took great delight in examining an object to determine if the surface had been "improved" by polishing, waxing, or applying pigment, or artificially aged with chemicals or other means. In Bloomington he was fond of carting objects up to the Indiana University health center to see if X-rays might reveal a hidden repair using nails manufactured in the mid-twentieth century.

He knew the appropriate surface for broad categories of objects. He knew that the surfaces of objects in early Belgian collections had been waxed, not to improve their marketability but because they were "treated as furniture and received a waxing along with everything else" (1984:2). Offerings of water, millet flour, animal blood, and other substances may account for the crusty patina common to figure sculptures used in many areas of West Africa, such as Dogon/Tellem figures or the Keaka work illustrated here (Fig. 12); but "if a crusty surface does flake in very large pieces, or does so down to the wood itself, then the patination is probably artificially applied." Sieber pointed out that the multiple contexts of use of Yoruba ibeji figures (see Fig. 8) result in a range of patinas that are all potentially authentic:

Yoruba ibeji, when used in the traditional
way, have a bluish-black
color from indigo wash to the
head, breast and pubic [area], a
reddish color on the body from the
oily rubbing it is daily given, and a
lightened face from its daily washings
with water. Yet an ibeji can
also at some stage be placed in a
shrine (often a Shango shrine),
where it is washed once a year
with an indigo wash. Such ibeji
will soon turn bluish-black: all
perfectly legitimate.... To assume
that [one ibeji] was fake because it
didn't "look right" would have
been a false conclusion.
(1984:2-3)

Sieber concluded that "fraudulence exists where a genuine, innocent object is twisted into becoming something it is not, or where an object is initially made and sold for something it is not" (1984:1). He was interested in why, in the long run, forgeries fail to deceive and in "what is time-bound in our perception of the art of another time and place that allows us to be fooled, even if just for a time..." (1993: 3).

The study of both authentic and fraudulent works was a critical part of Sieber's approach to connoisseurship, so much so that he included the topic in his classroom teaching and public lectures. He encouraged museums, such as the Indiana University Art Museum, to develop collections that, along with great works of art, would include a number of lesser quality works for teaching purposes. Indeed, Sieber maintained that "copy pieces and tourist pieces have their own intrinsic interest" worthy of art historical documentation.(13)

Developing Public Collections of African Art

Sieber's principles of African arts scholarship and connoisseurship were put into practice by museums throughout the United States that drew on his expertise as they sought to begin or expand their collections of African art. Two institutions had particularly close ties with Sieber: the art museum at Indiana University, where he taught for more than thirty years, and the National Museum of African Art. The Indiana University Art Museum (IUAM) began in 1955 with a gift from James S. Adams. A 1959 gift of African, Pacific, and Pre-Columbian arts from the collection of Frederick Stafford included an Igbo (Nigeria) mmuo mask (Fig. 13). When Sieber arrived at Indiana University in 1962, he no doubt used the small but growing collection in his teaching.

The museum flourished in the 1970s and 1980s under the direction of Thomas T. Solley. Together, Sieber and Solley "quietly and patiently built an exemplary collection that includes examples of outstanding pedigree and the highest aesthetic merit" (Darish 1986:7). Gifts from Ernst and Ruth Anspach, Herbert and Nancy Baker, Henry and Sarahanne Hope, and Rita and John Grunwald (Fig. 14) nurtured the growth of the African holdings. Raymond and Laura Wielgus's donation of their outstanding collection of arts from Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas made the IUAM arguably the best university museum in the country (Fig. 15; see also p. 79, fig. 26, in this issue; and Kreamer 2003: cover, figs. 7-9). Wise purchases also secured important works--a Baule goli kpan mask (IUAM 77.34.1), an Igbo ikenga shrine (Fig. 16), and a Chokwe chief's chair (IUAM 76.54), to name but a few. Solley commended Roy Sieber's efforts in building the museum's collections, which "imparted a special instructional dimension" by including "not only masterpieces but also less than perfect examples as teaching tools" (Solley 1986:5).

The approach to building the collections of the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) was slightly different. With a mission statement to foster an understanding of the arts of Africa through the collection and exhibition of works of the highest aesthetic merit, Sieber and Director Sylvia Williams put his seven acquisition criteria into practice as they moved forward "to create an absolutely world-class collection, piece by piece" (Sieber in Ross 1992:45). Important acquisitions included a number of Kongo mother-and-child figures (Fig. 17), a theme of particular interest to Williams; a Baule female figure (NMAfA 85-15-2), no doubt advocated by Philip Ravenhill, then Chief Curator, who had particular expertise in this area; a Chokwe mwana pwo mask (NMAfA 85-15-20); and two Inland Niger Delta terracotta sculptures (Figs. 18, 19) that had been exported from Mali in 1972-73, prior to the UNESCO conventions regarding Malian antiquities.

The prominence Sieber brought to NMAfA was reflected in the important national and international loans he was able to secure for the museum's 1987 inaugural exhibition and publication African Art in the Cycle of Life, co-organized and co-authored with Roslyn Adele Walker. The exhibition brought together an unrivaled group of eighty-eight works from major museum and private collections located in England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, as well as the United States. They exemplified outstanding achievements in the sculptural arts of Africa, and it must have been a delight for Sieber to work closely with these objects and to have such a prominent platform for their display. Several of the exhibition loans from private sources were later donated to the museum, an impressive coup and a measure of the high regard in which collectors held Sieber. Donations included a Hehe or Luguru high-backed stool (Fig. 20) and a magnificent lidded bowl with figures by the Yoruba master carver Olowe of Ise (Fig. 21).

Roy Sieber guided the growth of NMAfA's tradition-based collections, focusing on areas that were near and dear to him over the course of his career. Acquisitions of important textiles (Figs. 22, 23) acknowledge his pioneering efforts (1972) to raise this genre to its rightful status as an art form appropriate for display in art museums. Sieber's field research in Ghana and Nigeria is reflected in other important purchases and donations. Major works from Ghana include a rare Asante double figure akua'ba (Fig. 24), a Twifo-style terracotta head (Fig. 25), and a late-nineteenth-century adinkra wrapper (Fig. 26), reportedly worn by Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I on the day the British deposed him in 1896. Major Nigerian acquisitions include three Yoruba works: a stunning oshe Shango staff (Fig. 27), a beaded crown (Fig. 28) that was a gift of Milton F. and Frieda Rosenthal, and a rare triple ere ibeji (see Kreamer 2003: fig. 11). In addition, NMAfA acquired an Ejagham skin-covered mask (Fig. 29) and a woman-and-child fragment, part of a monumental slit gong carved by the Mbembe peoples (Fig. 30); both are imposing sculptures that remain on permanent exhibition.

Highlights from "Art of the Personal Object," a permanent exhibition at NMAfA organized in 1991 by Philip Ravenhill, reflected the institution's commitment to celebrate the beauty that is part of everyday life in Africa (Figs. 31, 32).(14) This was a natural outgrowth of Sieber's 1980 groundbreaking exhibition and publication African Furniture and Household Objects and his assertion that our Western view of traditional utilitarian objects "has been warped by our passion for the figurative, the decorative and the unique" (in Williams 1991a). In addition, the museum has an impressive collection of African pottery, now numbering more than 170 examples, among them a figurative vessel by the Lwena artist Sakadiba (see p. 50, fig. 11, in this issue), a Nyoro vessel from Uganda (Fig. 33), and pottery skeuomorphs (Fig. 34). The latter were of particular interest to Sieber, who appreciated pottery and wooden shapes that echo natural forms such as gourds(15) (Sieber 1992).

African headwear was featured in Sieber's early exhibition and publication African Textiles and Decorative Arts (1972) right up to Hair in African Art and Culture (2000), co-organized and co-authored with Frank Herreman for a popular touring exhibition developed by the Museum for African Art, New York. As might be expected, NMAfA has developed a strong collection of African headwear (Fig. 35) that currently numbers some 190 examples (including sixty from the Lamb collection, jointly shared with the National Museum of Natural History).

Notable recent acquisitions continue to build on these strengths and to maintain the standards set by Sieber and Sylvia Williams during NMAfA's first decade or so as a Smithsonian museum. A stunning Ejagham triple-faced helmet mask (Fig. 36), purchased in 2002, fills a gap in the collection for that type of skin-covered mask. In anticipation of a future exhibition on African jewelry, the museum is expanding its collections in this area. It recently purchased, for example, an early-twentieth-century amber, coral, glass bead, and shell necklace with enamel and silver alloy (Fig. 37) attributed to the Ida ou Semlal group, Imazighen peoples (formerly referred to as Berbers) of southwestern Morocco. It also acquired a late-nineteenth-century Barnum copper alloy bracelet from the Cameroon Grassfields (see p. 54, fig. 18, in this issue).

Sieber's influence set this pattern of purchasing into motion.(16) Works of art recently donated to the museum in his memory (Figs. 38, 39) acknowledge his pivotal role in building this national and international platform dedicated to the arts of Africa.(17) They also reflect collectors' affection and esteem for him.

The scholarly articles that constitute this and the previous issue of African Arts suggest the breadth of subject matter in African art studies today, much of it the result of Sieber's pioneering work over the course of his career. Rebecca Green's discussion of Madagascar's proverb cloths, or lamba hoany, furthers our appreciation of the communicative power of African textiles fostered by Sieber more than thirty years ago (p. 30). Mary Jo Arnoldi expands the boundaries of art historical inquiry by looking at the social, political, and aesthetic contexts in play in her consideration of civic monuments in Mali (p. 56). Christraud Geary's contribution on Sieber's field photographs documents his early research interests and his focus on style and technique, topics that were picked up in different ways by his students and others whom he influenced (p. 66). The contribution by Dana Moffett and Steven Mellor on the collaboration between conservator and curator in the treatment of African art objects recalls the many conversations they had with Roy Sieber during his tenure at NMAfA, and it brings our focus squarely back to the object (p. 44).

The Moba of northern Togo have a saying in praise of their ancestors: "The field of an elder will always be cultivated if there are descendants."(18) The legacy of Roy Sieber, who nurtured the field of African art history, endures through his family, his friends, and the professional contributions of the many individuals he has guided over the years (Fig. 40). May he be proud of our work.

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25 Commemorative head (nsodie) Akan peoples, Ghana. Late 17th-early 18th century. Ceramic, 18.3cm (7.2") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 86-12-4.

Opposite page:

26. Wrapper (adinkra). Asante peoples, Ghana Mid-late 19th century. Imported cotton cloth, black pigment; 210.8cm x 302.3cm (83" x 119") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 83-3-8. This page

Left: 27 Staff (oshe Shango) Yoruba peoples, Nigeria Late 19th-early 20th century. Wood, indigo, glass beads; 41.4cm (16 3") National Museum of African Art. Smithsonian Institution. Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 88-1-1 Significant Nigerian acquisitions like the ones shown here were part of Sieber's effort to build NMAfA's collection of traditional art.

Right: 28. Crown (ade). Yoruba peoples, Nigeria Ca. 1930. Glass beads, plant fiber, cotton, iron; 76.2cm (30") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Gift or Milton F. and Frieda Rosenthal. 94-1-1.

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29 Crest mask Ejagham peoples, Nigeria. Late 19th-early 20th century Wood, antelope skin palm fiber, bamboo metal, pigment: width 86cm (339"). National Museum of African Art. Smithsonian Institution Museum purchase, 88-11-1.

Opposite page, counterclockwise from top:

30. Female figure, fragment of a slit gong. Mbembe peoples, Nigeria. 19th-early 20th century Wood, seeds, pigment; 68cm (26.75") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 85-1-12

31. Stool. Kamba peoples, Kenya. Early-mid-20th century. Wood, copper alloys metal; diameter 24.8cm (9.75"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian institution. Museum purchase, 89-9-14.

Both Philip Ravenhill, then Chief Curator, and Sieber agreed that utilitarian objects had been overlooked because of the Western "passion for the figurative, the decorative, and the unique."

32. Pipe Nguni or Sotho peoples, Lesotho/South Africa. Early-mid-20th century. Wood, iron; 37cm (14.6"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 89-14-16

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Top: 33. Jar Nyoro peoples, Uganda Mid-20th century. Ceramic, graphite; 41cm (16.1"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Museum purchase, 94-13-1

Bottom: 34. Jug Zande peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Early 20th century. Ceramic, resin; 18.7cm (74"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian institution, Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, 89-13-57

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35. Hat (botolo). Ekonda peoples, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Early 20th century Raffia, brass, copper, dye; 55.2cm (21.75"), National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Muse um purchase, 95-11-2. Sieber's longstanding interest in headwear encouraged NMAfA to build its collection of hats.

Opposite page. right:

Right: 36. Helmet mask Ukelle group, Ejagham peoples, Nigeria. Late 19th early 20th century, Wood, skin, nails: 42cm (16 9/16"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Muse um purchase, 2002-1-1

Recent acquisitions and donations of fine works like this one and those in the following illustrations acknowledge Sieber's role in setting high acquisition standards at NMAfA.

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37. Necklace. Ida ou Semlal group, Imazighen/ Berber peoples, Morocco Early mid 20th century Amber, coral, shell, silver alloy, glass, enamel, cotton; length 68.5cm (26.9") National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 2003-2 1,

38. Koranic writing board Hausa peoples, Nigeria Mid late 20th century Wood, ink, hide; 484cm (19.1"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Barry and Toby Hecht in memory of Roy Sieber, 2001-16-1

39. Pipe bowl. Undetermined peoples, Grassfields region, Cameroon. Mid-20th century. Ceramic, pigment; 18.15cm (7.1"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Gift of Michael and Claire Oliver in memory of Roy Sieber, 2002-4-1.

40. Roy and Sophie Sieber (foreground) with "Sieber students" at Sieberfest Indiana University, Bloomington. February 25 26, 1994 Photo: Daniel FitzSimmons

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Left' 20. High backed stool Hehe or Luguru peoples, Tanzania. Early 20th century. Wood, 80cm (31.5"). National Museum of African Art, Smith son,an Institution. Gift of Robert and Nancy Nooter, 89-10-1.

Right: 21 Bowl with figures Yoruba peoples, Nigeria. Carved by Olowe of Ise (b. ca 1875, d. ca. 1938), ca. 1925. Wood, pigment; 63.7cm (25.1"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Bequest of William A. McCarty-Cooper, 95-10-1.

Opposite page, clockwise from top left.

22. Funerary shrine cloth Afaha clan, Anang peoples, Nigeria. Made by Okon Akpan Abuje (b. ca. 1900), late 1970s Commercial cotton cloth, cotton thread; 344.8cm x 153cm (135.75" x 60.25"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Museum purchase, 84-6 9.

23. Flag. Mahdiyya State, Sudan. 1882-85 Cotton, silk; 132.7cm x 149.2cm (52.25" x 58 75"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Museum purchase, 91-20-1. Sieber was among those who attempted to raise awareness of African textiles as an art form.

24. Double figure (akua'ba). Asante peoples, Ghana Early mid-20th century. Wood, glass beads, plant fiber, metal; 34.8cm (137"). National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution Acquisition grant from the James Smithson Society and Museum purchase, 87-4-1.

Ghana was one of Sieber's areas of research, and this interest is reflected in the important Ghanaian acquisitions made during his tenure at NMAfA.

[This article was accepted for publication in April 2003.]

1. Quote excerpted from a 2000 filmed interview with Roy Sieber by Laine Nyden. a graduate student in the Art History program at Indiana University.

2. Sieber family quotes drawn from an interview I conducted with them on May 18, 2002, 91 Bloomington, Indiana. I would like to offer Sophie, Mark, Thyne, Ellen and Matt my deepest gratitude for sharing with me so many of their wonderful memories.

3. Many people shared information, identified images, and provided assistance to me as I worked on the introductory essays for these two special issues honoring Roy Sieber. In Bloomington, I would like to thank Tavy Aherne, Bradley Cook, Daniel FitzSimmons, Laine Nyden, and Diane Pelrine; in Iowa City, thanks go to Christopher D. Roy, Victoria Rovine, and Jeffrey Martin; in Washington, D.C., Franko Khoury, Katherine Sthreshley, Liesl Dana, and Barry Hecht wen' very helpful, I would also like to thank Michael Conner (Krannert Art Museum, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois) for his help In trying to locate particular images relevant to the 1994 Siebeffest and the 2001 memorial celebration held at Indiana University. All exemplify the spirit of collegial support that Sieber lustered throughout his life.

4. Sieber, of course, developed his views on aesthetics and African art in conversation and collaboration with many fine scholars of his generation, including Warren d'Azevedo, William Bascom, Daniel Biebuyck, William Fagg, Robert Goldwater, Alan P. Merriam, J. H. Kwabena Nketia, Robert Farris Thompson, and Melville J. Herskovits, the last serving as an early source of inspiration and guidance. At Indiana University, Sieber and Merriam collaborated on interdisciplinary courses and seminars exploring art and aesthetics from different disciplines. Sieber contributed to a number of important edited volumes on the topic; among them see d'Azevedo 1973; Biebuyck 1969; Jopling 1971; and Otten 1971.

5. Thompson, personal communication to Sieber in 1984, cited in Sieber 1990: 344.

6. Tassell (2002) reports that graduates of the course included James Rorimer, former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Alfred II. Barr Jr., first Director of the Museum of Modern Art; Perry Rathbone, former Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; John Walker, former Director of the National Gallery Current Harvard-trained art museum directors Include James Cuno, former Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums, now Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, London; Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Glenn D Lowry Director of the Museum of Modern Art; and Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

7. In his November 2000 acceptance speech for the African Studies Association's Distinguished Africanist Award, Sieber graciously acknowledged his gratitude to his students and to "private collectors, such as Barry Hecht and Bill Itter" who continued to teach him about African art.

8. From a speech delivered by Patrick O'Meara, quoted in a report on Sieberfest in African Arts (1994:10-11) On February 25-26, 1994, indiana University's Hope School of Fine Arts and African Studies Program honored Roy Sieber with a symposium and celebratory social gatherings, affectionately called Sieberfest, that celebrated Roy Sieber's four decades of accomplishments, and his official "retirement" from teaching at Indiana University.

9. To which daughter Ellen wryly noted, "Well, it wasn't an elective!" Indeed, according to Thyne Sieber Rutrough, the "aesthetic training" would "start out as this fairly Innocuous, innocent little thing 'Why don't you try it up there, on the mantelpiece,' Dad would say, lounging back there in the chair. And so we'd try it out on the mantelpiece. 'Well, it looks okay there, but then you need to move such and-such over there.' And by the end of the day, it would be like Dad directing traffic as the rest of us were moving furniture, moving objects, taking that one up to the study, trying to get this one down there. We'd have to totally rearrange the house!"

10. Matt credits his own visual acuity in photography to his father's aesthetic training exercises where basic principles of compositional arrangement became in MaWs words, "part of my aesthetic, without being conscious of having to think about how to arrange things. When I look through a view finder, it either looks right or it doesn't."

11. Images of the Ijo mask and the ibeji adorn Roy and Sophie's joint tombstones in Bloomington.

12. Sieber, unpublished draft, ca. 1987, p. 7. Sieber wrote these guidelines for fiat. museum's curators, and the museum continues to adhere to them. It has added an important criterion--one that was not an issue in its early days of collection building--that relates to potential use With Increasing calls for loans of works In our collection by American museums, many of them Smithsonian affiliate museums, NMAfA has sought to acquire depth in certain types of objects that are particularly popular or appropriate for traveling exhibitions and outside loans.

13. Sieber noted that "it is regrettable that we are doing so very little to document recent African art styles. Soon we will know very little about [tradition-hosed] African art In the late 20th century" (Sieber 1984:5). 'q would suggest that all art, 'authentic', 'inauthentic', or any objects that are made for tourist porpoises, and possibly even forgeries, deserve the same methodolgy, which is that of traditional art historical studies, not just of African art, That methodology includes such things as concepts of the object, term, style, technique, use, aesthetics, meaning, iconography, the author, history, time, place, ,all that sort of thing" (Sieber 1993: 2).

14. The museum's collection of such objects was facilitated by the 1989 purchase of ninety-two utilitarian objects that had been "assembled in Great Britain from colonial collections" and acquired through a generous grant from the Smithsonian's James Smithson Society (Ravenhill 1991b). Mostly from eastern and southern Africa, these works demonstrate exceptional skill and beauty.

15. African Furniture and Household Objects contained a good selection of skeuomorphs.

16. Though Roy Sieber encouraged the study, collection, and exhibition of contemporary African arts, this was not an area In which he had particular expertise. In his role as Associate Director (later, Emeritus) of Research and Collections at the National Museum of African Art, he recognized the need for a museum devoted entirely to African arts to build a collection that is "not focused on one area or time" (Sieber in Ross 1992:45) The museum's Director, Sylvia Williams, felt strongly that Africa's contemporary arts should be part of the institution's mission, and she led the way in building the collection, with the enthusiastic support and assistance of Philip L Ravenhill. It is worth noting, though, that in 1993 Roy and Sophie Sieber donated to NMAfA three ink-on-paper drawings by the Nigertan contemporary artist Chike C. Aniakor

17. In recognition of Sieber's interest in hats and headgear, Mona Gavigan of Washington, D.C., donated a lovely and rare Mangbetu hair pin of copper alloy (NMAfA 2002-8-1).

18. Literally Daa-kpa-waog k nyit k dan big be: "The old field of the parents does not remain uncultivated as long as there are descendants" (Carros 1974:163).

References cited

Biebuyck, Daniel (ed.). 1969. Tradition and Creafivity in Tribal Art Los Angeles: University of California.

Carros, Ft. Pierre-Marie. 1974 Proverbes Mobs, eel 2. Dapaon, Togo: Mission Catholique de Korbongou.

Darish, Patricia. 1986. "Preface," in African, Pacific, and Pre-Columbian Art in the Indiana University Art Museum, p. 7. Essays by Roy Sieber, Douglas Newton, and Michael D Coe. Organized by Patricia Darish. Bloomington: Indiana University Art Museum.

D'Azevedo, Warren L. (ed.). 1973 "The Tradional Artist in African Societies. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press

Jopling, Carol E (ed). 197L Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Societies New York: E.P. button & Co.

Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. "A Tribute to Roy Sieber, Part 1," African Arts 36, 1 (Spring):12 -23,91. Special issue: "Memorial to Roy Sieber, part 1," guest ed. Christine Mullen Kreamer.

Nyden, Laine. 2000. "Interview with Roy Sieber." Video, part of graduate student project, Art History, Indiana University

O'Meara, Patrick. 1994. Speech in "Sieberfest," introduced by Patrick McNaughton, African Arts (Dialogue) 37, 3 (July): 10-11.

Otten, Charlotte M. (ed.). 1971. Anthropology and Art: Readings in Cross-Cultural Aesthetics Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press.

Ravenhill, Philip 1991a. The Art of the Personal Object Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art

Ravenhill, Philip. 1991b. "The Art of the personal Object." Exhibition brochure. National Museum of African Art.

Ross, Doran H. 1992. "Interview with Roy Sieber," African Arts 9.25, 4 (Oct.):36 51

Sieber, Roy.1956 "Introduction," in African Sculpture 18th Annual Free Arts Festival, School of Fine Arts, State University of Iowa,

Sieber, Roy. 1971. "The Aesthetics of Traditional African Art," in Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Socialies, ed. Carol E Jopling, pp. 127-31. New York: E.P Dutton& Co. 1st pub. 1950 as "The Esthetic of 'Traditional African Art," in Seven Metals in Africa, ed. E Rainey. Philadelphia.

Sieber, Roy. 1968. "The Art of primitive Arts," Art News (Special issue, Museum of Primitive Art), ]an.: 2% 33, 43, 66-67.

Sieber, Roy. 1969. "Comments," in Tradition and Creativity in Tribal Art, ed. Darnel Biebuyck, pp. 192-203. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press

Sieber, Roy 1971. "The Arts and Their Changing Social Function," in Anthropology and Art: Readings in Cross-Cultural Aesthetics, ed. Charlotte M. Otten, pp 203-11. Garden City, NY: The National History Press.

Sieber, Roy. 1972 African Textiles and Decorative Arts New York: Museum of Modern Art.

Sieber, Roy. 1973. "Approaches to Non Western Art," In The Traditional Artist ill African Societies, ed. Warren L. d'Azevedo, pp. 425-34. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press.

Sieber, Roy. 1977. "Some Aspects of Religion and Art in Africa," in African Religions, ed. Newell S. Booth, Jr, pp 141-57. New York, London, Lagos: NOK Publishers international.

Sieber, Roy. 1980. African Furniture and Household Objects, New York: Museum of Modem Art.

Sieber, Roy. 1984. "Fakes, Reproductions and Restorations in African Art." Lecture delivered at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, May 16.

Sieber, Roy. 1990. "Fierce or Ugly," in Art as a Means of Communication in Pre-Literate Societies, pp. M1 53, pls. XIII, XIV, eds. Dan Eban, Erik Cohen, ,and Brenda Danet. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum.

Sieber, Roy. 1992. "Purpose and Perfection: Pottery as a Woman's Art in Central Africa." Exhibition brochure, National Museum of African Art

Sieber, Roy 1993. "Reflections on the Study of African Art," African Studies Program Newsletter, Spring/Summer: 1-5. Indiana University Sieber, Roy and Roslyn Adele Walker. 1987. African Art in the Cycle of Life. Washington, DC, and London: Smithsonian Institution Press for the National Museum of African Art.

Siebel, Roy and Frank Herreman (eds.). 2000. Hair in African Art and Culture. The Museum for African Art, Munich, London, New York: Prestel.

Solley, Thomas T. 1986. "Foreword" In African, Pacific, and Pre-Columbian Art in the Indiana University Art Museum, p. 8. Essays by Roy Sieber, Douglas Newton, ,and Michael D. Cue. Organized by Patricia Darish. Bloomington: Indiana University Art Museum.

Tassel, Janet. "Reverence for the Object: Art Museums in a Changed World Harvard Magazine 105, 1 (Sept.-Oct).

Williams, Sylvia. t991. '*Foreword" in The Art of that Personal Objest by Philip L. Ravenhill, p. 3. Washington, DC: The National Museum of African Art.

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