Rare triplets "ibeta" · Nigeria, Yoruba, Abeokuta · ID: 3045623
sold
EUR 2,600
Provenance
collected in situ in the 1960sSaxer, Switzerland
René Rickli, Olten, Switzerland
Size
H: 22,5 cm / 24,5 cm / 25 cm
H: 8.9 inch / 9.6 inch / 9.8 inch
Description
wood, indigo blue pigment,
Very beautiful, extremely precise and finely crafted specimens in the style of Esubiyi, the founder of the second major carving workshop in Abeokuta (compare Homberger (1991), p. 36, ill. 47).
All three figures show the typical Abeokuta carving style characteritics: Egba tribal marks, the distinctive design of the hands and the characteristic aprons, with which the two male figures are carved.
Considering the unusual frequency of twin births, triplets are not more common among the Yoruba than in our country and are therefore very rare. The wooden figurines made for deceased triplets are called “ibeta” (“ibi” = born, “eta” - three).
Comparing literature
Homberger, Lorenz (Hg.), Yoruba, Museum Rietberg, Zürich 1991, p. 36, ill. 47