Airstream Trailer Fantasy Coffin from Ghana by Nii Anum

[Matt in SV]

I am not quite sure what to say about this, so I will just let the listing speak for itself! (No it is not mine)

Airstream Trailer Fantasy Coffin from Ghana by Nii Anum

This is a full size coffin carved in wood and painted by Anum with a fabric resting liner inside. Made in Ghana where this tradition began. Made in 1995 by the Kane Kwei disciple Nii Anum. It's in excellent condition. Dimensions: 96L x 28W x 40H inches.

In Ghana, funerals are both important ritual and decadent affair. Children of the deceased are assigned new parents, and mourners spend days in heartfelt conversation with their lost loved ones. Women give the body a ritual bath and set out objects the person will need in the afterlife - a spoon for tea, a clean t-shirt, and perhaps a comb. Money, wrapped in a cloth, is waved over the face of the deceased so they will know how much friends and family have donated toward the cost of the funeral.
Kane Kwei was born in Teshi in the 1920s and began as a carpenter, making not only furniture but also coffins. A man named Ata Owoo made coffins for tribal chiefs. One of Ata Owoo's most talented young apprentices was Kane Kwei, was powerfully inspired by the chief's cocoa-pod coffin. When Kane's grandmother died in 1951, he built a coffin just for her -- shaped like an airplane. People loved that airplane coffin so much that Kane Kwei understood that he'd found his true calling. He opened his own shop and started making custom coffins symbolic of the deceased's status and worldly occupation: boats for fleet owners; fish or crabs or lobsters for fishermen; cows and bulls for breeders; lions and leopards for hunters; cocoa pods, peppers, green onions or corn cobs for farmers." Nii Anum was one of his apprentices and now has his own studio.

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Larger pics at...
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See my other auctions and store items for unique Africana and art.

We've been selling great vintage Americana on eBay for over 10 years. We can crate and ship worldwide. Or you can pick it up here in Santa Monica, California.

[highlandsgirl]

This is definitely different. Interesting!