Shrine figure "arugba shango" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3032689
sold
EUR 1,400
Size
H: 49 cm
H: 19.3 inch
Description
wood, dyed in red, painted with white dots, traces of indigo blue paint, standing male figure, supporting a large spherical bowl on the head, collection number in white paint on the inside “+236”, slightly dam., cracks, paint rubbed off;
presumably from the workshop of “Fakeye” (died 1946), Ila Orangun.
“Arugba” means “bowl carrier”. In the bowl the devotees keep neolithic celts, thought to be the thunderbolts which “shango” hurls in judgement upon those who do not acknowledge his authority in their lives.