This attractive carving of a woman dressed in her
beaded finery represents one of Africa’s most
enduring and charming sculptural traditions. She
was made by a diviner of the Yoruba group, at
the request of a mother mourning the death of
one of her twins. The notion is based around the
concept of bargaining with spirits, to save the
life of the remaining twin and also to ensure that
the dead individual not be forgotten. It is a
strong and geometric carving, with a broad nose,
pursed lips, incised/raised coffee-bean eyes and
a set of three horizontal scars on each cheek, all
lending a stern expression. The coiffure is tall
and crested, marked with incisions that retain
some pigment. The ears are very strongly
geometric, resembling the letter D with the
lowermost section of the upright removed. The
cloak is comprised of multicoloured beads sewn
onto a cloth background, in abstract swirls and
curvilinear shapes. Patination of the figure is
light and glossy.
The Yoruba peoples of Nigeria have what is
probably the longest extant artistic tradition in
Africa. The nation state is comprised of
numerous subsections that were joined
historically by the rise and collapse of the Ife
(12th to 15th centuries) and Benin (13th to 19th
centuries) polities. Each of the sub-kingdoms –
including Oyo, Ijebu and smaller units towards
the west – had their heyday, and are loosely
united through language and culture, although
they still retain a measure of independence in
terms of their artistic traditions.
The Yoruba are sedentary, agriculturist and
hierarchical, and are ruled by hereditary kings
known as Obas. Access to the supernatural world
is supervised by a very complex arrangement of
priests and spiritual intermediaries, who straddle
the cosmological border between the tangible
realm of the living (aye) and the invisible realm
of the spirits and the hereafter (orun). The
creator of the world is Olodumare – the source of
all ase (life force) – and his spiritual minions
include all manner of spirits, gods and ancestors
who can be appealed to or appeased through
human intermediaries. Most Yoruban artistic
heritage is designed to thwart evil spirits, and to
placate or honour those that bring good fortune
to the populace.
Yoruba populations have the world’s highest
prevalence of twinning (45/1000 live births –
compared to 8/1000 in the US), and this fact has
been woven into their mythology, culture and art.
Twins are promulgated by Shango, and are
regarded as auspicious. However, the mortality
rate of twins is very high. According to Yoruba
convention, twins share a single soul. If one
should die, the spirits may take away the second
twin as well. To avoid this, the babalawo (diviner)
carves a figure of the same sex as the deceased
child: this figure is known as an ere ibeji. The
mother must wash, dress, feed and anoint the
wooden figure as if it were alive.
The appearance of the figures depends entirely
upon the skill of the carver, as only the sex of
the individual is specifically determined. The
specific social history of the area, and its
contacts with other areas or cultures, does
determine the final appearance of the figures.
For example, the hair of some individuals is
rubbed with indigo dye, and the bodies with red
camwood powder; specific styles and details
such as scarifications betray the origin of most
examples. Most ibeji are naked, but socially-
elevated families often wish to manifest their
wealth through dressing the figure in ornate
clothing or jewellery such as trade beads. This
piece thus commemorates the dead daughter of
a wealthy and grieving family.
This is a beautiful yet poignant piece of African
art.
