Male pair of twin figures "ere ibeji" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba, Ilorin, Oyo · ID: 3036977

Description

wood, shiny reddish brown patina, black paint, indigo blue pigment, figures with extreme short legs, bulging belly and round shoulders, short necks support proportionally large heads, wearing fez-like headdresses with pierced superstructures, flat noses with broad alea are completed by projecting fish mouth-like snouts, striking big ears projecting from the back of the head, scarifications on body and face, nailheads as pupils (missing apart from one), slightly dam. (base), cracks;
rare “ibeji”-type !
Both figures richly adorned with strings of glass beads and coconut discs, one figure provided with cowrie shell strings, both abundantly spread with “osun” (camwood powder).

The object Male pair of twin figures “ere ibeji” with the object ID 3036977 was last part of the auction 77th tribal art auction at June 28, 2014 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 363 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,000.

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Comparing literature

Polo, Fausto, Enzyklopädie der Ibeji, 2008, ill. 483