mother and child figure

unrecorded Yoruba artist, artist

mother and child figure, 1965

Where object was made: Nigeria

Material/technique: wood; carving; pigment

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 80 x 26 x 33 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 31 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 13 in

Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Kenneth Palmer

Accession number: 2007.2735

Not on display

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Label texts

Corpus - Project Redefine: Phase 2

Shrine figures are part of the rich and prolific sculptural tradition of the Yoruba, an ethno linguistic group in West Africa. This sculpture, which was carved five years after Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, depicts a mother holding a baby or young child on her lap. A second child is tied to her back with a sash. Yoruba religious tradition is monotheistic with one creator deity, or supreme being, overseeing all of the orishas - Yoruba spirits or deities. This sculpture may have been part of a shrine used to celebrate an orisha’s power to ensure prosperity and fertility. The small figure standing next to the mother may be venerating an orisha.

Exhibition Label:
"Corpus," Apr-2012, Sofia Galarza-Liu & Sarah Schroeder
Shrine figures are part of the rich and prolific sculptural tradition of the Yoruba, an ethno linguistic group in West Africa. This sculpture, which was carved five years after Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, depicts a mother holding a baby or young child on her lap. A second child is tied to her back with a sash. Yoruba religious tradition is monotheistic with one creator deity, or supreme being, overseeing all of the orishas - Yoruba spirits or deities. This sculpture may have been part of a shrine used to celebrate an orisha’s power to ensure prosperity and fertility. The small figure standing next to the mother may be venerating an orisha.