Lot 12 Dα

Cf. Witte, H., A Closer Look: Local Styles in the Yoruba Art Collection of the Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal, Berg en Daal, 2004, p.101, fig.96 for a male figure from the same workshop. The author states: The only objects we know from the town of Oke-Iho, some 80 kilometres north-west of Iseyin, are ibeji, which display strong Shaki influence. The most striking feature of the usually large ibeji made by this particular workshop is the hairstyle, with two or four broad braids that meet above the head. This has sometimes been taken as evidence that the object comes from Shaki. We can also see large orbital arches with eyelashes marked on the upper eyelids, square shoulders, striped body marks and a square base decorated with a raised line in the middle. A curious feature of the male figures is the string of beads round the hips, which women wear under their skirts as part of their everyday clothing, producing a marked erotic effect that has often been praised in song.