coffin
- Museum number
- Af2000,06.4.a-b
- Description
-
Coffin (with lid); carved from wood; in the form of eagle; body painted gold with black, pink, gold and white feather markings; beak slightly open, painted orange with black tip, pink inside; eyes white and pink, pupil black; wings two separate pieces of wood joined with metal hinges, attached to back with metal hinges, coil of wire fastened to each wing to allow them to flap slightly; back opens to reveal cavity, sides lined with yellow silk, bottom with red textile, underside of lid lined with red textile; eagle stands on green platform with carrying handles painted black in each corner.
- Production date
- 2000
- Dimensions
-
Height: 119 centimetres
-
Width: 71 centimetres
-
Depth: 243.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The Ga-speaking people revere the deceased ancestors and give a prime importance to funeral celebrations. Starting from the early 1950s they became renowned for developing a new tradition of beautifully carved figurative coffins. These were inspired by the palanquins carved in the form of eagles which had traditionally been used by chiefs on important occasions. The story says that the new style of coffins originated in Teshie, a fishing community in Accra. It was created in 1951 by two carpenters, Kane Kwei, and his brother Ajetey, who made a coffin in the form of an airplane to bury their grand-mother. It was successful in the community and Kane Kwei developed it further with his apprentice Paa Joe. The artistic coffins became very popular in Ghana and internationally, stimulated by the emergence of new machinery and carpentry workshops and the rise of the newly-emerging middle classes.
Ga coffins are made by specialist carpenters. The carpenter will first make a drawing following a brief from the deceased’s relatives. Families commission coffins representing the life achievements or dreams of a deceased relative, or characterising their personality e.g. an eagle, a car, a plane, a bible, a fish, or a photo camera. Sometimes the deceased will have prepared a design brief during his or her lifetime. Coffins are made of wood and then painted. The deceased's body is washed, dressed, adorned and laid out with the coffin open during the wake. The coffin is then closed and carried to the burial ground.
This coffin was made in 2000 in Teshie, in the workshop of Paa Joe. It is made from wood in the form of eagle and painted gold with feather markings. It is lined with silk and red textile. The eagle stands on a green platform with carrying handles in each corner.
See
- Secretan, Thierry. Going into Darkness: Fantastic Coffins from Africa. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994.
- Griffiths, Hannah. Diverted Journeys: The Social Lives of Ghanaian Fantasy Coffins. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2000
- Tschumi, Regula. The buried treasures of the Ga. Coffin art in Ghana. Bern, Benteli Verlags, 2008
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2000
- Acquisition notes
- Af2000,06.1 to 4 are "four wooden coffins from the Ga people, Teshi, Accra, Ghana: one elephant, one eagle (Paa Joe's workshop); one Mercedes, one gun (Paa Willie's workshop), collected by Nigel Barley in May 2000."
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Af2000,06.4.a-b
