Workshop of Kane Kwei
(Ghana 1951– )
Lion coffin
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Kane Kwei was a carpenter who began a strange new trade in response to a request from his uncle. The uncle was a fisherman who wanted Kwei to make a coffin for him in the shape of his fishing boat. The success at the funeral was such that Kwei was inundated with requests. A chief would have a lion casket like this one, a fruiterer may be buried in a banana, a truck driver in a truck, a highly fertile matron in a chicken. There is a cultic background for this practice in burying attributes of the dead with the body, but this is an original and creative practice.
- Year
- 1995
- Media
- Sculpture
- Medium
- wood coffin with fabric and mixed media
- Dimensions
- 125.0 x 206.5 x 84.0cm
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Mervyn Horton Bequest Fund 1997
- Accession number
- 9.1997
