ere ibeji (twin figure)

unrecorded Oyo artist, artist

ere ibeji (twin figure), circa 1950

Where object was made: North Oyo, Nigeria

Material/technique: carving; wood

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 25.5 x 8.5 x 7.5 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 10 1/16 x 3 3/8 x 2 15/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Larry W. Welling

Accession number: 2007.2715

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa," Oct-1983, Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen
Among the Yoruba the birth of twins is regarded as an unusual event. Upon the death of a twin, parents commission an artist to carve a commemorative figure. Only sex and descent group markings relate to the deceased. Such a twin statuette is ritually washed, dressed and fed and danced with by the mothers of twins, and generally maintained on domestic altars. The elaborate hairstyle, the sexually mature rendering of the figure are to express the full human potential of the deceased twin.