Altar figure (onílé)
possibly 1700s
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- with base: 34.3 x 10.8 x 25.4 cm (13 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 10 in.); without base: 31.3 x 10.8 x 25.4 cm (12 5/16 x 4 1/4 x 10 in.)
- Culture
- Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, African Art
- Credit line
- Alma Kroeger Fund
- 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 Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This figure of a horse and rider is related to the Ògbóni society, whose responsibilities include the burial of titleholders and leaders and the judgment and punishment of criminals. A counterweight to the authority of the king, it is also responsible for the selection, installation, and removal of rulers. Probably once forming a pair with a female figure, the equestrian symbolized the king’s male ancestors.
