Collections at Work Objects and Attribution

Abstract

The inability to attribute art objects to specific cultures can be a problem for art historians and collections managers alike. Because the arts often express peoples’ ideas and beliefs about themselves, it is important that we be able to discern the artistic work of one culture from another. This essay will address problems of attribution in museum collections, using the art of the South Sotho of South Africa and Lesotho as a case study. Current publications on the art of Africa include few, if any, objects attributed to the South Sotho, and often attribute objects from the South Sotho as “Southern African,” rather than linking them to artists from this particular culture. However, by reviewing the extant literature, and focusing on the formal aspects of the objects in question, one can produce a sophisticated, nuanced understanding of specific local conditions through the arts, while addressing attribution problems in museum collections.