Yoruba Epa Mask Female With Child Nigeria African Art 40 Inch

Additional Information:

Among the Yoruba of Nigeria sculpture in service to ritual and religion is integral to life. Equally so are those arts given over to social purpose reflecting not only the social stature of the person who owns it but equally their tastes. In the northern Ekiti region among the Yoruba containers known as Olumeye are carved most often in the shape of a rooster were placed in front of a female figure who is shown kneeling in position of submission and offering. The bowl was used to serve cola nuts to elite guests. The high hair crest is a style known as irun agogo is as noted; “a recent bride or, as a priestess, or as a priestess married to an orisha, a deity in the Yoruba pantheon.” (Fagg and Pemberton; 1982:134) She wears a protective amulet on her neck attached to a strand of large beads and has bracelets on her wrists. The interlaced pattern on her arms may be a local style of scarification and these decorative patterns that cover her body reflect her beauty and as noted by Drewal(1980:15) carry erotic overtones. Facial features are carved with naturalistic detailing as are her pointed breasts.

Recommended Reading:

R. F. Thompson: Black Gods and Kings: Yoruba Art at UCLA, (Los Angeles, 1971)

W. Fagg and J. Pemberton III: Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa, (New York, 1982)

H. J. Drewal and J. Pemberton III, with R. Abiodun Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, (New York, 1989)