Female Figure with Bowl
Abogunde of Ede (Yoruba; Nigeria; Coastal West Africa)
Late 19th century
- Medium
- Wood, beads, and traces of pigment
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 66.1 × 20.4 × 26.1 cm (26 × 8 × 10 1/4 in.)
- Culture
- Nigeria
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of the Alsdorf Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. James W. Alsdorf, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Antonow; Samuel P. Avery Fund; gift of Herbert Baker and Gwendolyn Miller, the Britt Family Collection, and Gaston T. de Havenon; Ada Turnbull…
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This figure was made for a shrine dedicated to one of the Yoruba orisa (deities)—possibly Shango, who is associated with the power of thunderstorms, warriors, and kings. The woman’s expression of concentration, her crisp features and incised details, and the energetic pose of the child are characteristic of the acclaimed sculptor Abogunde of Ede. The figure is at once an offering, a container for offerings, and the representation of a devotee presenting an offering.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
