Lot 102 D α

PAIR OF YORUBA RAM'S HEADS

Auction 1081 - overview Brussels
05.04.2017, 14:00 - African and Oceanic Art
Estimate: 10.000 € - 15.000 €

PAIR OF YORUBA RAM'S HEADS
Owo, Nigeria

35.5 cm. and 37 cm. high

Cf. Fagg, W. et al., "Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa", New York, 1982, p.24, fig. 26, for a related ram's head now in the British Museum given to Maurice Cockin by the Olowo of Owo circa 1910. Such altar heads, called "osamasinmi", were used in chiefly ancestor cults and received libations at the harvest of the first yam roots.

Provenance

Manfred Schäfer, Ulm

Literature

Schaedler, K.-F., "Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture", Munich, 2009, p.495.