Art
Ghanaian Barber Sign
- Item Number
- 131
- Estimated Value
- 250 USD
- Sold
- 38 USD to radnae
- Number of Bids
- 1 - Bid History
Item Description
Hand painted barber sign measures 40"Wx26"H
From the 1930s to the late 1990s, self-taught artists painted hairstyles on wooden boards with acrylics, and it only took them a day or two. While some signs were mere 2-D portrayals, others contained rich brushwork in every follicle, to the point where the quarter head shots looked quite realistic. But unless you know a collector, like Spike Lee, it’s harder to find these signs and find out about the people who made them.
Item Special Note
In Ghana, and West Africa more generally, the head and hair are canvases for expressing ideas about wealth, power, intelligence, status, and style. For example, starting in the 1600s, Akan queen mothers “shaved the hair around their nape and forehead to distinguish their regal stature,” write Philip M. Peek and Kwesi Yankah in their book African Folklore: An Encyclopedia.
Over the centuries, the symbolism of West African hair has evolved. With the “pan-African movement, prior and leading up to independence, you really begin to see the global emphasis on black pride, black fashion, black identity, and that hair could contribute to that identity,” says Dr. Christine Kreamer, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. In the book Crowing Achievement Kreamer’s co-author Mary Jo Arnoldi writes that contemporary hairstyles “are created as social commentary, others celebrate topical events, others are inspired by popular music and other forms of media.”
Though you won’t find the signs in barbershops any more, works from artists like Akoto and Daniel Anum (Jasper Painter) live on in private collections or institutions like the Fowler Museum of Cultural History in Los Angeles. To the painters, these signs were just part of a day’s work, but now thousands of miles away, their artistic value is far from ordinary.
Item can be picked up by winning bidder at the close of the auction. We will contact the winner with details immediately upon auction closing.
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