A veranda post in the style of Olówè of Isè. Depicted is a royal senior wife. She is unclothed except for five white rows of waist beads, a thick, angular necklace and a white painted bracelet on each wrist. Her back and the back side of the neck are decorated with scarification that signifiies betrothal. Part of the scarification shows remnants of blue paint. Vagina and pubic hair are clearly elaborated. The large heavy breasts with the typical cherry-shaped nipples indicate maternity. In her right hand she holds a flywhisk and in her left hand she carries a bird on its legs. The long fingers embrace the flywhisk and the bird entirely, as is typical for Olówè of Isè. On a sturdy neck sits the expressive head with a small, almost receding chin and a bulging forehead. The v-shaped mouth, quite typical of Olówè of Isè, is slightly open with a big gap between the two upper incisors. The arrow-shaped nose becomes narrower towards the forehead. The bulging very large eyes are completely rimmed and, like the teeth, painted white. The blackened eyelids are closed just a little, just enough to create an attentive tranquillity. Her elaborately plaited and finely carved hairstyle indicates her status as a royal senior wife. From the top of her head projects the intact capital that supported the roof beam. The right rear plait of hair is broken off.

„In the Yoruba monarchy, the kings senior wife was the highest-ranking woman after his mother. She wielded the greatest power in the palace, controlling access to the royal insignia used on high state occasions and maintaining the palace treasures. It was she who placed the crown on the kings head at his coronation.“ R.A. Walker, 66.

Lit.: Roslyn Adele Walker, Olówè of Isè. A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings,1998. Roslyn Adele Walker, The Ikere Palace Veranda Posts by Olowe of Ise. African Arts, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Jan., 1991), pp. 56-57, 62-63. Bolaji Campbell. Reviewed Work: Olówè of Isè: A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings by Roslyn Adele Walker, African Arts, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Spring 2000), pp. 88-89. John Pemberton III, Art and Rituals for Yoruba Sacred Kings, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1998), pp. 96-111, 174. Alisa LaGamma, Authorship in African Art, African Arts, Vol. 31, No. 4, Special Issue: Authorship in African Art, Part 1 (Autumn 1998), pp. 18-23. Alisa LaGamma, Beyond Master Hands: The Lives of the Artists, African Arts, Vol. 31, No. 4, Special Issue: Authorship in African Art, Part 1 (Autumn 1998), pp. 24-37, 89-90. Roslyn Adele Walker, Olówè of Isè: Anonymous Has a Name, African Arts, Vol. 31, No. 4, Special Issue: Authorship in African Art, Part 1 (Autumn 1998), pp. 38-47, 90. Nii Q. Quarcoopome, Three Works of Olówè of Isè, Bulletin of the detroit Institute of Arts, Vol. 85, No. 1/4 (2011), pp. 42-51.

Price on request.

Height: 1,75 m
Weight: 27 kg
Height of statue: 1,20 m