Kneeling female figure with bowl "olumeye" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3048383
Bettina Rübesam, Munich, Germany
Description
wood, black paint, missing parts, repainted, rest.
The motif of the kneeling female figure holding a bowl in her hands is a characteristic theme of court art in Yorubaland. These figural offering bowls adorned the reception halls of many kings, especially in the Ekiti and Igbomina areas.
They were used for keeping kola nuts “obi” or other delicacies to welcome high-ranking visitors. They were also placed at shrines to receive offerings to a deity “orisa”. They are also sometimes said to have been used to hold the sacred palm nuts needed for “ifa” divination sessions.
The Ekiti call the sculpture of the kneeling woman with bowl “olumeye”, “one who knows honor”. The woman depicted is seen as a “messenger of the spirits”.
The object Kneeling female figure with bowl “olumeye” with the object ID 3048383 was last part of the auction 97th Auction at November 6, 2021 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 257 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,000.
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Publications
Bamert, Arnold, Afrika, Olten 1980, p. 141, ill. 97
AHDRC: 0109274