A fragmentary couple of large Ogboni shrine figures, Nigeria, Yoruba, Ijebu or Owu religion. See Frank Willet, Ife.

It seems to be the first time, that a couple of this well known Yoruba sculpture of an old collection is coming to the market. According to the last owner it was once found in a well and not in the earth.

According to Elsy Leuzinger, the cult objects of the Ogboni society occupy a special position. So far as one can find out about the secrets of the society, they are related to the cult of the earth spirit Onile. It is possible that the relief figure with the catfish-legs on the agba drums represents this Onile. When the agba drum sounds to call the members of the society, everyone is seized with terror, because the call always means that a death sentence is to be executed, usually as a punishment for the betrayal of the secrets of the society. The blood of the sacrificed used to be poured over the drum.

In the Ogboni sanctuary there is also a larger brass figure with protruding eyes and a horn-like hair-style. Its hands form the Ogboni greeting. Morton Williams investigated its secrets and learned that it was Ajagbo, a terrible Alafin of Oyo, who became a revenging spirit and is invoked by the Ogboni society when a divine sentence of death has to be passed. Ajagbo is identified with Onile, the earth spirit.

"The style of works in metal and ivory is very different from the style of carving in the Yoruba country. This phenomenon is no doubt to be explained by its completely different function." (The Art of Black Africa, translated by R.A. Wilson, the New York Graphic Society, New York, 1972, pp 174-176.)

Im National Museum in Lagos befindet sich eine ähnliche weibliche Figur (Höhe 106 cm), die aus Iperu stammt, von einer weiteren wird berichtet, daß sie in einem Ogboni-Shrine in Ibadan noch in Gebrauch sei. Morton Williams identifizierte jene Figur als Darstellung Ajagbos, eines schrecklichen Alafin von Oyo, der als Rachegeist zu göttlichen Ehren gelangte und dessen Statue bei der Entlarvung und Bestrafung derjenigen eine Rolle spielt, die Ogboni Geheimnisse verraten haben. (Source: Frank Willet, Ife, Metropole afrikanischer Kunst, zweite Auflage 1975, Tafel 101).

Lit.: Leuzinger, Elsy, Kunst uit Afrika: Rond de Niger - De Machtige Rivier, The Hague: Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1971, no. L11. Leuzinger, Elsy, Kunsthaus Zürich: Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika, Zurich: Kunsthaus, 1970, pp. 178, no. L11. "Ogboni shrine figures, Bonhams", a similar, single female Bronze sculpture is available on Barakat Gallery, "Large Yoruba Bronze Statue of a Woman", with an estimated age 1800 AD to 1920 AD

sold

Height: 104 cm/ 104 cm
Weight: 12,6 / 13,2 kg