Acrylic on linen canvas, 120 x 120 cm

ORIGIN : Yoruba male & female shrines figurine, female height 74,9cm ; male height 69,9cm

YORUBA people in Nigeria, West Africa

Made of : Wood

Last seen : Sold by Nancy and Richard Bloch, 110 500 USD at Sotheby’s in 2012.

The two monumental shrine figures in the collection of Nancy and Richard Bloch are prime examples of Yoruba carving technique. They are distinguished by very expressive features as well as by their beautiful golden honey patina. These Yoruba shrine sculptures were probably carved in Ilobu by an artist from the Toibo circle of Erin, son of Maku.(Scan to learn more)

They were probably placed in a shrine for Orisha Erinle in Ilobu or a nearby town on the northern edge of the forest in the region known as Oyo in western Nigeria.

Erin Village was well known for the carvings of master carver Maku, his son Toibo, and others affiliated with them. The Timi Palace of Ede and its famous shrine of orisha Ogun, deity of iron and war, had thirty or forty shrine sculptures carved by sculptors from Oshogbo, Ibadan, Ilobu, Erin, Ila-Orangun and many other villages and towns. Particular carvings were often acquired for a shrine on the instruction of Ifa divination, sometimes requiring the devotee to travel to a nearby town in search of a carver well known for his skill and knowledge in creating carvings. appropriate for a particular orisa or the headdress for an ancestral masquerade. Other carvings may be inherited from a deceased family member, particularly a relative of deceased twins or a devotee of a particular orisha.

Shrine carvings for the orisha are visual metaphors. They are not objects of devotion or sacred or spiritually powerful thought. Rather, they are images of devotees, of those who possess the power, ashe, or “spiritual authority,” ori inu, of the orisha in their lives. The female figure carries a child on her back and holds an offering calebiere under her full breast, a gift for the power that gave her the gift of a child. The child is tied to her with her wrapping, her arms hanging with ease and confidence at the sides. The equestrian figure holds the reins of his steed and grasps a spear with his right hand. A knife is attached to his leg. “He is firm and strong like an ancient rock.” His servant stands at the front of the saddle, searching the way to make sure the way is clear and another stands at his back, holding on to the rider's arms. The woman's hair and the rider's "dog-eared hat", abatiaja, are painted with indigo dye. Both feature a pigtail, decorated with six descending triangles echoing the inverted Islamic triangular amulet, the tiara, hanging from their necks.

John Pemberton III - Crosby Professor of Religion, Emeritus Amherst College, wrote in March 2012:

“The engravings have been smeared with chalk, indicating that Erinle is among the orishafunfun, deities of whiteness, such as Obatala, creator of human beings, Oshun, goddess of birth and beauty of women, and orisha Oko, lord of closed. Erinle may be involved in the bloodshed of hunting and combat, but he is essentially seen as a deity who perpetuates life: killing in the search for food and defending the community. As with humans, the Yoruba orisha are deeply ambiguous characters, endowed with a remarkable capacity for creativity, but capable of violent behavior.

(Source Sotheby's)