New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2006.

Nuba Woman II

Artist William Morris (American, b. 1957)

Artist/Vendor William Morris Studio

CultureAmerican

Date2001

MediumBlown and applied glass with metal

DimensionsOverall: 53 x 17 x 19 in. (134.6 x 43.2 x 48.3 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Glass Fund, Glass Purchase Fund, Contemporary Glass Fund, and the Glass and Decorative Arts Accessions Funds

Object number2002.16

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a figurative glass sculpture made of blown glass with hot applications on a metal stand. It is a three-quarter length figure fashioned entirely from glass, and depicts an African woman carrying a water gourd on her head. Her head and the gourd resting upon it are formed by a single vessel. Her body is suggested by a cluster of three gourds that hang the length of the implied torso. She wears large loop earrings, and each of the four gourds is ornamented by a strand of beads. The jewelry is transparent and translucent, so that it is clearly evident that it is glass. In contrast, the glass used in the gourds and the head does not immediately appear to be glass. The gourds are opaque and their surface is matte-finished so that they give the appearance of real gourds. The head has a texture suggesting that it was carved from bone and stained black.

Label TextWilliam Morris American. b. 1957 Nuba Woman II, 2001 Blown glass and metal Museum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., Glass Fund, Glass Purchase Fund, Contemporary Glass Fund, and the Glass and Decorative Arts Accessions Funds 2002.16 ProvenanceThe artist; Museum Purchase, 2002. Exhibition History"William Morris: Two Installations," Chrysler Museum of Art, Large Changing Gallery (168), June 27, 2002--January 5, 2003. Published ReferencesBlake Edgar and James Yood, _William Morris: Man Adorned_ (Seattle, Wa.: University of Washington Press, 2002), 10-11, cat. no. 44. Martha Drexler Lynn, _Sculpture, Glass, and American Museums_ (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005), 36-43.