mother and child figure, unrecorded Yoruba artist

Artwork Overview

unrecorded Yoruba artist, mother and child figure
unrecorded Yoruba artist, mother and child figure
unrecorded Yoruba artist
mother and child figure
1965
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 0.9921 in
Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. Kenneth Palmer
Accession number: 2007.2735
Not on display
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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.