Shrine Figure (Ikenga)
possibly early 1900s
- Medium
- Wood, organic materials, and raffia
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 74.5 x 18 x 20 cm (29 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
- Culture
- Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Igbo carver
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, African Art
- Credit line
- Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase 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 seated figure of a man holding a cutlass and an inverted human skull is a cult object called ikenga, associated with achievement and success. Standing at the center of a man’s personal shrine, the sculpture receives prayers and sacrifices in return for the ancestors’ guidance. An elaborate headdress comprising two horn-like extensions reinforces the cult’s preoccupation with masculinity, while facial incisions known as ichi refer to membership in one of many male associations.
