Male twin figure "ere ibeji" in cowrie shell cape · Nigeria, Yoruba, Igbomina · ID: 3032233
Eduard Hess, Basel, Switzerland
Description
wood, dark brown patina, encrusted camwood powder, elaborate carved head: pear-shaped with a broad nose and a “smiling” mouth, scarification marks on the cheeks, slightly dam., missing parts through insect caused damage (crested coiffure);
belonging to the so-called type of the “laughing”.
The lovely cowrie coat indicates that this “ibeji” must have belonged to a wealthy family which could afford this expensive article of clothing. Cowrie snails in former times represented a mean of payment all over africa. In this case they are also a symbol for wealth, which is for the Yoruba people combined with twins.
The object Male twin figure “ere ibeji” in cowrie shell cape with the object ID 3032233 was last part of the auction 68th tribal art auction at March 3, 2012 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 187 achieved a sales price of EUR 150.
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