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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:37:16 GMT
A FINE YORUBA MALE TWIN FIGURE IN COWRY SHELL COAT Ere Ibeji, from the Igbomina area With carved triangular pendants on breast and back, black bead necklace, sandalled feet, dark glossy patina, the coat covered in shells
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:38:16 GMT
Sopona (or Shapona) is the god of smallpox in the Yoruba religion. The Yoruba people of Nigeria believed that smallpox was a disease foisted upon humans due to Shapona's "divine displeasure", and formal worship of the God of Smallpox was highly controlled by specific priests in charge of shrines to the God. People believed that if the priests were angered they were capable of causing smallpox outbreaks through their intimate relationship with Shapona. Suspecting that the priests were deliberately spreading the disease, the British colonial rulers banned the worship of Shapona in 1907. Worship continued, however, with the faithful paying homage to the God even after such activities were prohibited. Shapona was exported to the New World in the slave trade, where he became known as Omolu or Babalu Aye in the Orisha religion. Shakpana is an equivalent in Dahomey mythology.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:38:33 GMT
Part of an Oba's royal attire: fully beaded footwear (19th Century). Beaded slippers were part of the regalia worn by the Yoruba king (oba) when he appeared in public ceremonies. Beaded shoes became popular in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries when European fashion became the model for prestige wear and Yoruba leaders began to move freely outside of the palace. Rulers created laws prohibiting commoners from wearing shoes and other items associated with royalty. When the king is greeted in Yoruba society, people say, “May the crown rest long on your head, may shoes remain long on your feet.”
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:46:57 GMT
Veranda Post: Equestrian Figure and Female Caryatid Olowe of Ise (Nigerian, born Ise, about 1873–1938) Date: before 1938 Geography: Nigeria, Yorubaland, Efon-Alaiye region Culture: Yoruba peoples, Ekiti group Medium: Wood, pigment Dimensions: H. 71 x W. 11 1/4 x D. 14 in. (180.3 x 28.6 x 35.6 cm) Classification: Wood-Architectural Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1996 Accession Number: 1996.558 This monumental work was one of a series of carved architectural supports designed for the exterior courtyard of a Yoruba palace. It was commissioned by a king from the most renowned master sculptor in the history of Yoruba art, Olowe of Ise. The two-tiered composition embodies a formal dynamism that established Olowe's exceptional artistic reputation. Its principal personage, an equestrian warior, is depicted frontally above a female caryatid with arms raised in three-quarter view. Through this contrast in their alignment, the figures at once reflect distinct attitudes while relating to each other fluidly. The compressed style of the upper half also contrasts with the greater degree of openness below. At the base two smaller figures radiate outward at oblique angles. In addition to the inventive dynamism of their overall design, works by Olowe are noted for the attention given to surface detail. The mounted warrior holds a spear and pistol in either hand, and his vest, saddle, and horse's headgear are articulated through deeply carved linear motifs. While innovative in its formal interpretation, the subject of this work is a classic emblem of regional leadership. In Yoruba art such equestrian figures identify their patrons with martial conquest achieved through physical might.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:47:16 GMT
YORUBA, HORSEMAN 5, 11" Nigeria Figures were placed on altars in shrines or displayed at special ceremonies. Leaders and ancestors were often displayed on horseback to support their status as great warriors or leaders. several are depicted in colonial wear. Despite its patina, this figure shows no evidence of age or use and was probably made to be sold.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:48:27 GMT
Nigeria - Yoruba Epa Headdress (British Museum) Nigeria Yoruba people Probably late 19th century Possibly carved by Bamgose of Osi-Ilorin The Epa masquerade of the Yoruba peoples promotes the health and well-being of communities. Processions of masqueraders perform energetic dances which suggest higher powers of existence and the strengthening of the body. The performers jump to the top of a mound, the result of which is an omen for the community. In Opin such masks were known as aguru and were used in the post-burial rites of titled men whose status was based on personal achievement rather than lineage. The image of the mounted warrior appears regularly on Epa masks. In addition to being an image of energy and authority, it embodies memories of at least three centuries of cavalry warfare in north-central Yoruba. H.M. Cole (ed.), I am not myself: the art of ma, Los Angeles monograph series, no. 26 (Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1985) T. Phillips (ed.), Africa, the art of a continent (London, Royal Academy, 1995)
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:49:12 GMT
Unknown artist. Yoruba peoples, Nigerian Agere Ifa, 19th-20th century Curator‘s Comments An agere Ifa is one of the essential ritual artifacts used by divination priests. When an individual or group consults an Ifa priest with a problem, the diviner uses sixteen sacred palm nuts to “cast Ifa” and produce images for the client. This agere Ifa was carved by a master carver, and has an intricate grouping of seven figures and a horse. In the faces of the equestrian figure and the mother with child, the carver has reflected the desires of the people consulting the priest, and has provided visual expressions of hope and expectation.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:49:45 GMT
TITLE: Yoruba Horseman, (Section of an Ifa divination cup) SIZE: h: 8.2 in / h: 20.8 cm REGION: African TRIBE: Yoruba PRICE*: Contact Gallery for Price GALLERY: 310-820-9448 Send Email DESCRIPTION: Although they are objects firmly associated with ritual, Ifa divination cups, agere Ifa, have few proscriptions regarding subject matter and manner of execution. As a result they vary widely in form and representation, and have provided Yoruba carvers with a versatile sculptural type with which to test their skill and imagination. The equestrian figure, embodying as it does notions of power, of sacrifice and self-discipline, was often the subject of the agere Ifa, especially among the central and northern Yoruba carvers, where the mounted warrior was better known. The figures are said to personate Obatala (The King who is great), "The Deputy Olodumare" (or Olorun, The High God), "The Maker", "The One who deals in choice clay". Obatala is the heavenly rider, represented as a horseman or a mounted figure holding a lance or carrying a sword and scabbard. In addition, the actual process of carving, the skill and imagination of the master carver, serves as a hymn of praise to the deity. The curve of the horse's neck, the line of the rider's jaw and the bend of the foot in the stirrup give evidence of the carver's sense of figural form. The harness, reins and scabbard are finely detailed. But these skills of eye and hand are subordinated to an awareness of the unity of the work as a whole. ONLINE CATALOGUE(S): African & Asian Art LITERATURE: Drewal, Pemberton and Abiodun, Yoruba - Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, the Centre for African Art in association with Harry N Abrams, New York, 1989.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:51:04 GMT
Ifa Divination Vessel: Equestrian Warrior (Agere Ifa) Yoruba, Nigeria Wood; H. 29.5 cm (11 5/8 in.) 19th century Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig Maf22514 In Yoruba culture, women and men each have their own characteristics that make them powerful. Metaphorically, women and men can be compared to containers and what needs containing. Women are vessels in more than one sense. They carry babies, and they also receive men during intimate intercourse. In this way, women have a power that men need. This is an essential concept of female power that is brought out through the art. (4) Vessels and receptacles are traditionally associated with women for two purposes: they are symbolic and actual containers, and they are reliable and productive. According to a legend, a woman named Agere was a divination deity’s wife who protected him by hiding him in her belly and also helped him by working with him. Agere containers, which are divination vessels that hold a young male initiate’s palm nuts (contain) and that are also used to ground medicines (productive), became known as such due to this woman. (4) Although associated with women, instead of images of females, the agere containers are usually carved in the form of men on horseback, like this one pictured here. (4) (4) Drewal, Margaret Thompson. Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:52:04 GMT
Yoruba, Nigeria. Coupe Agere Ifa. Cette coupe en ivoire est destinée à recevoir les noix de palmes utilisées dans les rituels de divination du culte Ifa. Le réceptacle, au bord dentelé, est disposé au sommet du crâne dÕun cavalier. Celui-ci à lÕallure guerrière est richement habillé, costume et harnachement sont sculptés avec détails. Le cavalier assis sur une selle au haut dossier protecteur, porte en main droite un bâton, la main gauche absente devait tenir la bride du cheval. Cette représentation équestre évoque les valeurs de Mesi Shango, guerrier mythique, libérateur du peuple yoruba, divinisé par la suite comme Dieu du tonnerre. LÕensemble équestre repose sur un plateau circulaire aux bords décorés dÕune ligne brisée. LÕivoire présente une patine brun rouge très foncé par endroits, et particulièrement luisante en croupe. Des gerces anciennes, expliquent les brides en cuivre qui ont été fixées à la base et en intérieur de la coupe afin dÕen limiter les effets dÕécartements. On note au dos du biceps droit un manque parallèle à la gerce principale. Ce type de coupe apparaît au début du XIX siècle évoquant et commémorant les guerriers chasseurs du XVIII siècle des seize royaumes. Région d'Owo. Dimensions : 24,5 cm de hauteur le diamètre à la base au plus fort est égale au diamètre de la partie supérieure de la coupe soit 12,5 cm cm
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:53:51 GMT
Carved Yoruba calabashIn Yoruba culture, the calabash is considered a container for items, both sacred and profane, but importantly is a symbol used when explaining the universe, which is considered to be a calabash (again, science concurs that the universe as we understand it is in essence an expanding sphere). In that role, the universe is cut in half with the upper half representing Orun (heaven) and the lower half representing earth or the “known” universe (aiye). This plays directly into our diagram of circle with two intersecting lines, the horizontal representing the differentiation between heaven and earth and subsequently life and death.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:54:33 GMT
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:57:06 GMT
Origin: Nigeria Circa: 20 th Century AD Dimensions: 18" (45.7cm) high Collection: African Style: Yoruba Medium: Brass
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:57:20 GMT
Yoruba ceremonial swords.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 13:59:59 GMT
More Owo artefactsYoruba Ivory ceremonial Sword (Udamalore) - GDC.019
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 1800 AD to 1920 AD
Dimensions: 15.25" (38.7cm) high
Collection: African Art
Style: Yoruba
Medium: Ivory
Condition: Extra FineBeautiful Owo IvoriesVessel, 17th-18th century. Yoruba, Owo group. Nigeria, Guinea Coast. Ivory, wood or coconut shell inlay, Height 5 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Klaus G. Perls, 1991 (1991.17.129).
Location :The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Photo Credit : Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY
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