The State Museum of Oriental Art is opening an exhibition dedicated to the African continent – the cradle of many cultures, demonstrating unity in the endless variety of manifestations. This major project of the Oriental Museum includes three exhibitions designed to demonstrate the unique features of African art from different regions and emphasise its significance in the context of the global art process.

‘Land of a Thousand Kings. The Art of the Republic of Cameroon.’
‘Mami Wata: Sub-Saharan Water Deities.’
‘Restraining the Spirits: Zar Rituals in the North Africa’.

In addition to items from the Museum of Oriental Art repository, the exhibition features items from private collections and other museum institutions.
Museum Collection provided the organisers of the exhibition in State Museum of Oriental Art with a unique exhibit – a rare doll ‘La Charmeuse de Serpent’ (Zulma, the Snake-charmer). This doll made by Gaston Decamps in 1907, better known as ‘Zulma’, was the first creation of Gaston Decamps and is considered one of his most important works.

Nowadays, several copies of the Zulma automaton are stored in both private and public collections (the collection of Madame de Galea, the National Museum of Mechanical Toys and Antique Dolls in Monaco, the Souillac Automata Museum in France).

Musical automaton "Zulma, the Snake-charmer" – a figure of a dark-skinned girl made of papier-mâché, is mounted on a wooden stand painted with white enamel. A metal plate with a coin slot is on the velvet-covered base top side. An aperture for the winding crank and activating button is on the rear side. A coin drawer is mounted in the base bottom part. A musical mechanism with a sound comb and a cylinder for four melodies is fixed inside the stand.

The girl is wearing an open dress of fine peach blossom fabric embellished with sequins, pearls and embroidered with metallic threads. Wide scarf with lace, metal threads and fringe on the ends is tied on her waist. Gilded metal bracelets with transparent colorless, blue and pink gems are on the girl’s wrists and ankles. Openwork gilded hoop with large pendants in the form of flowers is on her head, a necklace with geometric pattern – is on her neck. Gilded pipe is in the girl’s right hand. She holds a long, hanging down snake with her left hand. The mechanisms of the automaton and jukebox are activated when the coin is dropped. The figure of the girl moves – her right hand lifts the pipe to her mouth; her head tilts left and right, the eyelids lower and rise. The snake moves its head from side to side; the musical movement plays one of four melodies.

Perhaps the bronze figurine “Snake Сharmer” by the German sculptor Josef Wind (1864-1898) was the prototype of this automaton. Several original versions of the sculpture, executed in alabaster exist.

The African project is scheduled to be shown on May 30 until July 20.
We congratulate our colleagues from the State Museum of Oriental Art on the opening of the exhibition.