Information
Male sculpture: 25.5cm tall; Female sculpture: 26.5cm tall
Worship figures, pair of “Ibeji” twins.
Wood with a dark glaze with encrustation of tukula powder, metal tacks on the eyes, and a small white pearl necklace on the female figure.
Signs of prolonged use.
Two sculptures crafted following designs that, with a long tradition, were transmitted across southern Nigeria and in the Republic of Benin. It is a type of art that is recognisable and that has been passed down through time thanks to the creative urge of the many sculptors who worked in workshops, often very far away from one another.These small sculptures, of both male and female sex, represent two twins. The birth of two or more twins is considered by some Nigerian people to be a significant event. Should such an event occur, the lucky parents ask the village sculptor to prepare the Ibeji, the pair of statuettes with the same sex as the newly born twins. These will form a strong spiritual bond with their owners. These sculptures will be guarded and treated with the utmost care throughout their life. If one of the twins dies, their link with the other twin will continue through the statuette, which thus becomes the incarnation of the spirit of the deceased twin. Only after the death of both twins do the statuettes lose their meaning and sacred value and can therefore be given up.
Worship figures, pair of “Ibeji” twins.
Wood with a dark glaze with encrustation of tukula powder, metal tacks on the eyes, and a small white pearl necklace on the female figure.
Signs of prolonged use.
Two sculptures crafted following designs that, with a long tradition, were transmitted across southern Nigeria and in the Republic of Benin. It is a type of art that is recognisable and that has been passed down through time thanks to the creative urge of the many sculptors who worked in workshops, often very far away from one another.These small sculptures, of both male and female sex, represent two twins. The birth of two or more twins is considered by some Nigerian people to be a significant event. Should such an event occur, the lucky parents ask the village sculptor to prepare the Ibeji, the pair of statuettes with the same sex as the newly born twins. These will form a strong spiritual bond with their owners. These sculptures will be guarded and treated with the utmost care throughout their life. If one of the twins dies, their link with the other twin will continue through the statuette, which thus becomes the incarnation of the spirit of the deceased twin. Only after the death of both twins do the statuettes lose their meaning and sacred value and can therefore be given up.
Provenance
Galleria Paolo Morigi, Lugano (1976);
Collection of Walter Schwab, Bern (inv. WS 249);
Collection of Walter Schwab, Bern (inv. WS 249);
Literature
FAGG WILLIAM & PEMBERTON JOHN 3rd , Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa, New York 1982, pag. 81 (56);
MERLO CHRISTIAN, Ibedji, hohovi, venavi: Les statuettes rituelles de jumeaux en civilisation beninoise, Articolo pubblicato sulla rivista francese “Arts d’Afrique Noire”, Estate 1977, n° 22, pagg. 16 - 31;
STOLL MAREIDI & GERT STOLL & Cooperation Ulrich Klever, IBEJI: Twin Figures of the Yoruba, Munchen, Germany 1980 (1076)
MERLO CHRISTIAN, Ibedji, hohovi, venavi: Les statuettes rituelles de jumeaux en civilisation beninoise, Articolo pubblicato sulla rivista francese “Arts d’Afrique Noire”, Estate 1977, n° 22, pagg. 16 - 31;
STOLL MAREIDI & GERT STOLL & Cooperation Ulrich Klever, IBEJI: Twin Figures of the Yoruba, Munchen, Germany 1980 (1076)
Specialist Notes
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Condition report
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