Figure féminine assise avec coupe et couvercle

Description

wood, pigment residues, base

The Yoruba used female figures carrying bowls to offer kola nuts “obi” to their guests as a sign of hospitality.

Usually these figures are depicted kneeling and the lidded bowls are carved in the form of a cock. Carvers in northern Ekiti called these figures “olumeye”, “one who knows honor”. They depicted a woman who “is a messenger of the spirits”.

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