Three-Headed Figure (Sakimatwemtwe)
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
ART OF VIRTUE
Art can express our most important values. For the youngest of students to the most senior of elders, art can provide a vision of the ideal world.
This writing board is evidence and expression of devotion and discipline, and a connection to an international community connected by Arabic, the language of the Qur'an. In Sudan, students historically used wood writing boards to practice their Arabic calligraphy and to help them memorize Qur'anic verses. The text written on the front of this board is a verse from the Qur'an, sura 97, which addresses the night of the first revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad.
The Lega figure called sakimatwemtwe, or "the man with many heads," represents the qualities of equity, wisdom, and discernment that enable its owner to see all sides of an issue and have knowledge of all things going on around him. It would have been owned by a man who belonged to Kindi, the highest level of Bwami, a hierarchical organization through which Lega initiates advance from one state of knowledge to the next.
Caption
Lega. Three-Headed Figure (Sakimatwemtwe), 19th century. Wood, fiber, kaolin, 5 1/2 x 2 x 1 1/8 in. (14 x 5.1 x 2.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 22.486. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 22.486_SL1_edited_version.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Culture
Title
Three-Headed Figure (Sakimatwemtwe)
Date
19th century
Geography
Place made: South Kivu or Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medium
Wood, fiber, kaolin
Classification
Dimensions
5 1/2 x 2 x 1 1/8 in. (14 x 5.1 x 2.9 cm)
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1922, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
22.486
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at