Mirror · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3032541
not available anymore
Size
M: 31 cm x 34 cm
M: 12.2 inch x 13.4 inch
Description
wood, brown patina, yellow and red ochre, mirror glass, metal fitting, two mirrors in a square wooden frame, decorated with bird sculptures, two human heads on the upper rim, slightly dam., abrasion, rep., the small doors originally locking the mirrors now missing (remains of metal fitting);
mirrors in small decorated boxes are popular with the Yoruba as wedding gifts. In the Yoruba iconography birds often symbolize witches. In this case, however, they seem to be watching over the domestic bliss of the couple that received the mirror as a wedding gift.
Comparing literature
Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, p. 147