H x W x D: 76.5 x 29.7 x 24.5 cm (30 1/8 x 11 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Nigeria
Date:
Date unknown
Label Text:
The Yoruba Oshugbo or Ogboni society consists of the oldest and wisest men and women in a community. They settle disputes and balance the power of the king. This figure depicts a titled male elder. He wears the ritual sash over his left shoulder and the beads of office around his neck. His feathered and beaded headdress and seated pose may signify the special role of the king's representative.
This is one of only two published terracotta Oshugbo figures; others are copper alloy.
Description:
Ceramic standing male figure with carved necklaces of beads around the neck, a carved depiction of cloth draped across the proper left shoulder and around the figure to the proper right hip and a carved depiction of a cloth short skirt. The figure holds a staff-like shape in his proper right hand, wears a crown headdress and has a carved depiction of scarification on the proper right torso.
Provenance:
Paul and Ruth Tishman, New York, after 1975 to 1984
Pace, New York, circa 1975
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 22, 2013-February 23, 2014; Fowler Museum at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, April 19-September 14, 2014; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, October 15, 2015-March 9, 2016
The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection Highlights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., May 21, 2009-June 4, 2014
African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2007-March 31, 2009
Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, Center for African Art, New York, September 20, 1989-January 7, 1990; The Art Institute of Chicago, February 10-April 1, 1990; The National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., May 8-August 26, 1990; The Cleveland Museum of Art, September 26-December 9, 1991; New Orleans, LA: The New Orleans Museum of Art, January 11-March 24, 1991; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, April 23-June 16, 1991
For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
Published References:
Drewal, Henry John and John Pemberton III. 1990. Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York: Center for African Art and Harry Abrams, pp. 134, 136, no. 147.
Herreman, Frank (ed). 2003. Material Differences. New York: Museum for African Art, Gent: Snoeck-Ducaju, p. 88, no. 81.
Jenke, Veronika. 2007. Explore! African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Exhibition booklet. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 18, 20.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Bryna Freyer and Andrea Nicolls. 2007. African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 208-209, no. 73.
Lawal, Babatunde. 2012. Visions of Africa: Yoruba. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, pp. 114, 135, no. 48.
Milbourne, Karen E. 2013. Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa. New York: The Monacelli Press; Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 122, no. 98.
Pace gallery, 1975. Advertisement in African Arts, 9-1, page 59
Visoná, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poyner, Herbert M. Cole and Michael D. Harris. 2001. A History of Art in Africa. New York: Harry N. Abrams, p. 243, no. 8-22.
Visoná, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poyner and Herbert M. Cole. 2008. A History of Art in Africa. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, p. 242, no. 8-21.
Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 104, no. 55.
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