CLEVELAND.-The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) this month announced its most recent acquisitions, among them significant works by artist René Lalique and Larry Fink and from the Wari empire of ancient Peru, and the Kingdom of Bandjoun, in Cameroon, Africa.

“As we look forward to the phased reinstallation of our permanent collection over the next four years, the museum continues to focus on its responsibility to strengthen its collection through the acquisition of works of art of exceptional aesthetic and historical significance,” CMA Director Timothy Rub said. “These acquisitions enhance the collection and address specific needs.”

CMA Acquires Superb Wari Tapestry - Among the most significant of these new works is a rare Wari tapestry tunic (camelid-fiber weft, cotton warp; single-interlock tapestry, 600-1100 A.D.). Such tunics are among the most splendid textiles to have been created by ancient Andean cultures, who prized fine cloth above most other things and regarded it as a form of wealth and prestige. These were most likely created for the elite lords who forged and guided the Wari Empire between about A.D. 600 and 1000 in the region of South America now known as Peru.

In the tunic’s broad, patterned bands are 56 repeated images of a single supernatural creature, the Sacrificer, whose dreadful accoutrements include an axe that it holds in one hand and a human head clutched in the other. The tunic’s imagery is rare and appears on only one other full tunic at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., along with a handful of small fragments.

CMA adds glass masterwork by Lalique - René Lalique’s Vase with Frogs and Lillypads (glass, c.1909-1912) is one of the most important objects created by this world-famous master of the decorative arts. It was made during the period shortly after Lalique first began working with glass and before he exhibited his first collection of objects in this material in 1912.

Vase with Frogs and Lillypads is one of the most significant and successful of Lalique’s works of this period. It is unique, and was created through the use of a ceramic mold. It was first exhibited with his other glass experiments from this period at the Salon in 1912 to huge critical acclaim.

This vase embodies many of the aesthetic qualities of Lalique's work in jewelry. Its truncated form is reminiscent of Asian ceramic storage jars andits naturalistic decorative motifs are decidedly Art Nouveau.

Cameroon Headdress spectacular example of sub-Saharan feather art - Disk-shaped headdresses from the Cameroon Grasslands are some of the most spectacular types of feather art in sub-Saharan Africa. The 20th-century headdress (feathers, vine, fiber, cotton, cloth, string) acquired by CMA is among the largest known and well preserved in terms of density and color splendor. It comes from the Kingdom of Bandjoun in the southern part of the Grasslands.

Because of their fragile nature, and the difficulties to gather them in sub-Saharan Africa, feathers are mainly used in headdress and attire that serve a ceremonial and display function. Their association with the wilderness inhabited by the birds from which they derive gives them special symbolical meaning, underscoring their purpose to indicate rank and mark authority and power. The red tail feathers of the African gray parrot indicate the age of this particular example; they are often replaced by dyed chicken feathers in more recent examples. The red color of the feathers is generally associated with things rare and sacred.

They were reserved for the king (fon), some high-ranking title-holders, and members of the powerful all-male Kuosi society. Donned on ceremonial occasions and during funerary performances, in the latter context they crowned a full costume consisting of a bead- and cowrie-covered fabric mask representing a stylized elephant's head.

New Photography Gift Expands Collection - Larry Fink’s Runway Portfolio (1998-2000), a generous gift by CMA trustee Mark Schwartz and his wife Bettina Katz, will join two portfolios previously given by them, Boxing and Oscar Awards also by Fink. For more than four decades, Larry Fink has examined through his thought-provoking photographs American culture, especially the social scene of the film and fashion industries. Since the early 1990s, he has traveled extensively to document everyone involved with the elaborate production of seasonal runway fashion shows of major international designers. With the aid of his ever-present hand-held flash, his stark black-and-white images record public, as well as private and unexpected moments. This stunning portfolio of 50 photographs contains many images from his impressive book on the same topic, published in 2000. This gift will richly add to the museum's presentation of this major contemporary photographer.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of America’s leading comprehensive museums. Its permanent collection is world renowned for its quality and scope, spanning 6,000 years of human achievement in the arts. The Museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and arts education. For more information, please call 1.888.CMA.0033 or visit www.ClevelandArt.org.