Pair of twin figures "ere ibeji" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba, Oshogbo · ID: 3032863

Description

wood, reddish brown patina, encrusted with camwood powder, indigo blue pigment, strings of glass beads and cowrie snails, male/female, drilled pupils, scarification marks on body and face, the facial features rubbed off from feeding procedures, slightly dam.;
as the Yoruba believe that twins have a combined, inseparable soul, the moment one of the twins dies, the life of the other is immediately imperiled, because the balance of his soul is seriously disturbed. Therefore an artisan is ordered to carve a small wooden figure to serve as new abode for the soul of the deceased. The “babalawo” performs the traditional ritual of transferring the soul into the wooden figure. They are called “ere ibeji”. The Yoruba word “ibeji” means “twin”, “ere” = “sacred image”.

The object Pair of twin figures “ere ibeji” with the object ID 3032863 was part of the auction 69th tribal art auction on June 2, 2012. The object with the lot number 145 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,700 with an asking price of EUR 1,500.

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