Pair of Ere Ibeji Yorouba, Nigeria. - Lot 344

Pair of Ere Ibeji Yorouba, Nigeria. Wood with red-tinged brown patina, metal, glass beads, lye blue. H. 26.5 cm. Linked to the cult of twins in Yoruba territory, these statuettes, one feminine, the other masculine, are firmly planted on the ground. The arms frame the busts and are attached to powerful shoulders. The faces, with their wide-open eyes, were once adorned with metal, as evidenced by a point that has survived on one of the pupils. The cheeks are marked with deep scarification marks, the number of which is indicative of the high status of the commissioners. The mitred headdresses are regularly striated, with lye blue highlights still present. The deep, lustrous patina associated with the care lavished on these effigies, and the persistence of camewood powder, are evidence of their age.