'

Aworan: Representing the Self and Its Metaphysical

Other in Yoruba Art
Babatunde Lawal

Among Lh e Yo ntba of Nigeria and the Republic or Benin , the Lion.n Although Yoruba culture appears to be homogeneous,
word riworri11 commonly refers to an y two- or three-dimen- I h e re
;;ire s ignificant regional varia Li ons, suggesti ng that what
sional rcpresentaLion, ranging from the nawrali ·tic Lo the WC have Wela)' is a synthesis Of previously di\'erse. even if'
stylized (Figs. 1, 2). A conu·action of ti (that which) , w<I (to related , clements. This phenomenon is appa re nt in the
look at), and ran/£ (to recall , that is, the subject), r!ruorrin is Yornba language, wh ich has various dialecLS differentiating
mnemonic in nature . identifying a work of an as a consrmct one kingdom from anothcr, 7 and in tJ1e fact that Od\1duwa
specially crafted LO app eal to the eyes. relate a representalion has a double identit}'. In so me pans of Yorubala nci , h e is
to its subjec t, and, al Lhe ame time , convey messages that may regarcied a.~ a powerful warrior and the leader of a11 immi-
haYe aesthetic, social, poli tical , or spiriLUal import. 1 It should gram group tha t subjugmed the aboriginal po pulation of ue
be emphasized, however, tha t Yoruba is a LOna l la nguage, M> and established a new ruling dyna.~ty that eventuail}' brought
th a t the same word may h ave different m ea ning:. depending the whole ofprcsenH:layYorubalancl under its hegemonr. In
o n how it is pronounc<:>d.2 For example, became of' a change otJ1er pans, the 'amt· Od\1cl11wa (also pronounced Ood11a) i~
in the vowel tones, the word awo1·r111 rl'f'crs not to a represen- worshipeci as an earth godcles · who ~ust.a in s humanity in the
tation-whi ch is awnrri11-b11t lO its beholder, bein g a con- same way that a 111otJ1er nunurC's he r chi ld ren. The fac t that
lJ'aCliOll o f' a (the one), wo (look.ing at), a nd imn (spertacl<:>) . :~ Odttduw:'t , the male warrior, is sorneLimes addressed as a
The meaning o[ tJ1 e root verb wo (to look) remains int.act in "mother" has ltd ~ome scho lars of Yornba history and reli-
the two words, linking th e beholder to the beheld. gion to suggest tJ1at. the male aspect is a la ter development ,
ln Lhis article, T want LO focus not only on till' imcrconnen- reflecLing an att<·mpL by a new dynasLy to legitimize its hege-
edness or an anci language in Yo ruba culture but a lso on !tow mon y by gm.fling a m ale aspect onto a preexi Ling earth
their cosmogon}' a.nci concept o f' procreation draw on tJ1e ntel- goddess. Tltii. cl}'llastic change, often dated between the sev-
aplto rs of artistic c reati,~cy. In tJ1e process. I will unde rline the en th and eleventh cenLU1il's C.E.,x reverberates in one cos-
nawre. comexLS, functions, peculiatities. and poetics of visual mogoni c m yth concC'rning a power tussle between two deitie ·
represem ations, Lhe ir impan o n cultural behavior. and tJ1e ex- in the Yoruba pantheon. According Lo the m yth , th e universe
telll to which portraiture has been used to reinforn· the body at fir l consi ted of only the heavens and was gm·erned by
politic at both the physical anci me taphysical levels. As Richa rd Ol6di"u11a re, th{' "upre me Being and Lhe generator or the
Brillialll has 1ightly ob e1ved, 'The S)11Lhctic study of ponraiture (pronounceci rilhP) , the \'i ta l principle empoweri ng ex istence.
requires some . ensitivity to the ocial impl icat.io11 of it.'> repre- As isting 016d\tmarc LO administer th e uniwrse was a pan-
sentational modes, to the documentary value of an as a~pect'> of theon of deities a11d uature spirits called ini tt. each of wh om
social history, and to tJ1e subtle interaction between social and per:.onified diffetTnt attribute or the Supreme Being, such
artistic C011\'entions."· 1 In additio n , 1 will aucmpt to heel some a:; water, land , creativity, industry, wi dom , beau ty, ferti lity,
light o n the nexus between chvorci11 (picture or reprcscmation ) vision. dvna111is111, heali ng , ;ind so on. After ome ti m e, 016-
and honmn (th<:> llCL of looking). di:Unarc decided to create lane[ below th <:> sky and assigned
Much of my data de1iYes from field observations a nd inter- thejoh to lhe creativity deity Obat.ala. Unfonnnately, 0b<1Lala
views in Yorubalancl, where I have conducted an hi ~tori cal re- goL drunk artcr receiviug the sacred instruments of his com-
search since the 1960s. I have also made use or Yoruba oral mis~ion and fe ll asleep by the roadside. Thereupon, a rival
u11dition, a good part of wh ich has been studied by sc holars in deity. Odl'1duwa. stoic t.h e sacred instrume n ts, de Tended
diJTcrent disciplines and found to conrain suhsian1ial fac tual from the sky, and created what we now call th e <'arlh . Wl1en
infonmuion that can be used for histotic:al reconstruct.ion. "' The Obaulla woke up and discO\ered what had happe11ed, he
fact that I conduCLed tJ1e field inten•iews in the Yoruba lauguage challe11ged Odl'tcluw.1 and a fierce fight ensued. The Su-
(of' which l am a nati\·c speaker) some times e nabled me to play pre me Reing late r imcrvenccl, compensating Obatala witJ1
the role of a participant-obsen'er and then follow up \\1th ques- anoth er as~ignm elll-to mold the images of tJ1e first human
tions pcnaining tO the semiotics o f images and pect.aLOrship. beings. who later became in h abitant~ of the earth .9 There are
H ence. my tJ1eoretical approach combines lingui~tic, \'isual , indications t hllt the warring factio11 · la te r imermarried a nd
iconographic, contextual, and a nth ropological analyse ·. united LO form a CC'ntrnl governmC'lll in rre under Odttduwa.
agreeing LO rotate tltc kingship among themseh·es. 10 These
Omo Od1ld11wii: The Quest for Unity in Diversity events arc commemorated ann ually during the Edl, lt.apa,
Numbering over 25 mi lli on people, the Yoruba arc divided Olqj6, and Ob~1tal~1 fesLi\·a ls in ff(• a nd it~ e m'irons when the
into several kingdoms, each heade d bya king (oba ). Almost a ll devotees of Ohii1;'\l;i-1·eprese11ting tlte aborig ines-and
th e kings a 11d tJ1eir su~jec:ts regard th em~e l v<'s a~ 01110 th ose or Odi"tcluw;i-represcnLing the immigranL~-cngage
Oduduwrl, th e descendants of Odl1duw;'L a mythic<tl progeni- in rium lized mock battles that usually en d in favor of the
tor popularly iden1ifi<'d as th e f-irst "divine" king of Ire, the Odiicluwi\ faction, after which there is a reconci.liation. 11
ancicn t city widely regarded as the cradle of Yoniba civi li za- Suffice it tu ~ay thaL the 01110 Odud11wa etho~, which see ms to
 Ill ~ \HF \\0 II'\ \H l'Al'll\~JC'\I . OJll~K I\: YORllJI\ \Rf <-J.99

1 Standing figure of an unidemified

01)11i(king) 01· He, Yornba, lfr, Nige ria,
brass. h. 18!YJto in ., ca. 14Lh- l 5th
cc nlltf\'. Lagos. Nigciia, , ational
Com mission for Muse1.tms and
Monumcnc· (ph oto: copyright 1979
Dirk Bakker}

ha\'e influenced th e Yoruba concept of po nra iuire. was ap- ya11) from di,·ine clay. According Lo LllC' Ill\ Lh, Og(m. Lhe deity
pa1-ently invcme cl as a political Lrategy aimed al forging a (1)11~rl) associated \\;l h iron LOo b and weapons. p ut the fin-
kind of "Unity in OiversiLy" relating th e immigram a nd ab- ishing !ouches LO the !01111, clariI)'i ng and delin eati ng the
original group - royal and commo ne rs alike. 1 ~ p1inci pa l feawre , especia lly the face. The image (erP) wrned
into a Ji,·ing human (h11yri11) afler receivin g from the upreme
E1·e E111)1d11; The Archetypal Hmnan lmage, and Bein g the divine b reath o r soul (hnf}--a form or 1/,1e (Lh c
01Uiyfyci: Creating a Work of Art e nabling powe r). Since Lhc n, eve111 image Lhus produced has
Of special intere l to us here is Lhc mylh that tht• creaLivi Lv been placed inside Lhe womb of a pregna m woman and left
deity Obarala molded the· archetypal human image (ere i'lli- to d evelop from an embryo ni c form into a n ormal baby.
500 AR I IWI l , FT" ~l:.Plt\llH. R ~0111 \Cll l~l t l.X,Xl ll Nl MIH' R I

o f Obata la, th e cre auv1ty de ity a nd pa tron of the Yo ruba

artist. The process of c reating a work of a n is call ed onayiya
(lite rally, onrl, art, and yfyii. c reatio n o r making), a te rm
implica ted in th e a fore me 11Lion ed prayer for a n cxpec tam
mo the r. Yiya d e1ives from the roo t ve rb yii, meaning to
create, fas hio n, or make. The fact tha t the fe male bod y
mediates Obatala 's creation "' h as led so me to tra nslate 1)rl,
the Yo ruba wo rd fo r a mo th er, as "someone fro m whom
a no the r life is fashi on ed "' or the bo dy "fro m whi ch we a re
created ." 16 The te rm )om de no tes a striking resemblan ce
be twee n a child and an y of' its paren LS or am o n g members of
the ame famil y. Thus, a n aturalisti c re presentatio n is calle d
ayrljom, a contractio n of ti (act of) , yli (to create), Jo ( to
rese mble), and am (ph ys ical bo d y of th e subject). Th at is to
say, rh c artist 's main goal is to capwrc individua l like ness, a
in a portrait o f on e of th e a nc ie nt kin gs (ooni) of ffe (Fig. I ).
The rea ·on for th e promine nce of th e head in Yoruba art will
be discussed sho nJy. A conce ptua l rep resentati o n, on the
a,
o th e r ha nd, is call ed dr<Jyii (a contractio n of act of, ro,to
think o r imagine, a nd )'ii, to cre ate) because it is d o ne fro m
memory. 17 Fo r example, 1hc eate d female of Fig ure 2 is fa r
fro m b e in g a po rtrait of a known person . Rathe r, th e image
is a construct-a f1 gure fo r an al ta r signifying th e Ea rth
Godde s (lie) in he r symbo li c role as th e "Mo the r and Care-
ta ke r of th e Wo rld" (iyi Aye), he nce. he r appe lla tio n Onile
(Own er of Lhe 1 lo use). The two small fig ures in he r hands
re p resent the ma le and fe male as peclS of na LUrc, wh ose
inte ractio n e nsures th e pe rpe tua tio n of life on earth. 18 The
emphasis he re i 11 o t so much o n empi r ical o bsen r;iti o n as on
the use o f the mind ·s eye to visualize a nd give ma te1ial fo rm
to a n idea. The literary eq uivale m o f <irO)'G (con cepLUal im-
agery) is arojo (oral poetry)-a sho rte ne d fo rm of r) (act o f) .
ro (to think o r imag ine) , a nd Jo ( to cha nt o r uuer).
Altho ug h iL has individua l a nd regio nal va ria tio ns (jus t as
th e Yo mha la ng uage h a' ubdia lects), the Yo ruba ~ culptural
s tyle (evide nt e pecia lly in woo d but a lso in s to ne a nd ivory
c ulpturc) is disrin gu ished by s tylized fig ures-standing,
kneelin g, o r riding on h orsebac k-with la rge heads, e labo-
rate hairdos, a nd p ro Lruding fac ial fea tu res (Figs. 4 , 18, 20) . 1ci
Throug h the a ppre nti ceshi p ·ystem , roung a rli LS a re Lra ined
to crea te image · in th e substylt> ch aracte ristic of a pa rticula r
regi on as we ll as to master a nd inte rpre t th e ico nographi c
conventi o ns (cisrl) ha nded d own fro m the past. 20 The fact that
2 Seated femal e alta r figure ignifying Onile (Earth Goddes.~),
Yoruba, igeria, brass, h. JO l}i in . Lagos, lational much of Yo ruba a rt functio ns in a r<'ligious co ntext has
Commission for Museums and M onume nt~ stabilized the ·c convemi o ns, imposing some limi taLio n on
(plww: au rho r, 1995) the exte nt of c ha nge with in th e ca no n , while, a t th e same
time, a llo win g creativity, innovatio n, and the incorporatio n
o f n ew ele men ts in Lime an d place. An appre ntice graduates
afte r de mon sua ting e noug h imo (mas tery of tim e-ho nored
H e nce the praye r for an ex pectant mo th er: "Ki Ori ·a y{t o na conventions), i 11106sl' (tec hni cal proficien cy), a nd oj1i oncl (lit-
ire ko ni" (May th e O rL:i [Oba u\l al fas hio n fo r u a good e rally, a nis1ic eye) to practice as a profe ·sional. Ojii ona can
wo rk of a rt). 13 The implica1io n is t.hat procreatio n, in spite of its he d e fined as "de ig n consc io usn ess,"'~' o r the ,; ua l cogni-
biological aspec1, has a n anisric dime nsio n as we ll : th e human tion th at enables an artist Lo select and p rocess images from
body is 1he handiwork of Ob;hfila, a piece of sculpture (erP) d aily ex perie nce into sche mata o r te mpla tes (d e termine d by
animated by a soul (emf). ln o ther words, Lhc body (am) ma kes the Yo ruba style), which are the n ·to red in picto ria l me 1110 1)'.
the spirit manifest, e nabling a n individual Lo have iwd (physical to be rcuieved a nd modincd whe n needed to express a n
existe nce) in the visible wo rld. lwa deno tes not o nly the fact of idea. A~ a result, a well-tra ined a rtis t docs no t need a life
be ing but a)SO the distinctive ciua )ity o r cha racter o f a perso n. H mode l o r a prc pa ratOI)' ke tch to re p resent a pa rticular s ub-
T he Yoruba ide nti.f)' a work of an as mid, tha t is. a n e m- j ecL A carver, fo r exampl e , begins b)' st;1ri ng intenLly a t th e
bodime m of creative s kills, implicati ng the arche ty pa l acti on wood while c o1~j uri ng 11p th e 1·clevant sche ma fro m his pie-
 Tl l F. Sl'l F AND I I !> M UA l'll\' S l (.A I or l tER 11' YO R U UA AIU.' !iO I

Loria! me morv. T hus, Lhe term dwor611 signifies much mo re

tha n an image I.hat recalls Lhe s ubjecL. IL a lso a ll udes to the
creaLive proces!>. especially an artisL's prelimi na1y conte mpla-
tion (ri-w1)) of the raw material a nd th e pic to rial me mory
(ir-rinli) necessa11· for ,1sualizi11g an d o bjectifying th e s ubjecl.
Thereafler, the carver proj ects the sc he ma o nto th e wood ,
reaches for h is tools. an d fo llows an establish ed procedure:
(a) sfs<i (blockin g out) , using a big adze LO reveal mass and
volume a11d to ou tlin e the image('). e mphas izing Lh e
head (s); (b) ontllilr (u·acking forms), using a ·ma ile r adze to
cla1ify the image(s); (c) dlh·u nlr (consoli claLion) , using c hisels
and knives to [urther define tile compone nL partS; (cl) dfdan
(smooLhen ing), using knives and abrasive leaves lo remove
Looi ma rks and ro ugh edges; a nd (e) fl11fln (incising), using a
knife Lo accemuate facial features a nd body pans, cut pa L-
ie rns. and create surface designs.'.!!! Mod e lin g in clay (la te r
ca t into brass o r bronze) fo llows a si milar procedu re, Lhough
difTe re nces in material, tools, and tec h nique in variably pro-
duce diffe re nL results. Carvings tend LO look more linear and
a ngular, due to t.h e subtractive technique. while mode led
fo nn have a moother fini ·h becau e of th e additive tech-
nique. According to the a rLists inLervic:wed in different parts
o r Yo rubaland , the creative proce . involves three deiLies, 3 Alrar (ib01i) fo r tJ1e inner head (Oli in11), Yoruba, Nigeria,
h. 5!h in. , 20th cen tu ry. Ire, Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo
Obatata, Og(111, and Esu. Obatala (creativity d eity) provide
University Collenion (pho to: autho r, 1970s)
th e imaginative comp o ne nt, Ogt'.111 (iron d e ity), the tools for
transfo m1ing the mate rial , a nd Es\1 (di vine messen ge r). the
vision and rise (e nabling power) tha t facilitate cxecutio n .2 :1
o ral transmission fro m o ne gen eration to ano ther, they orten
Orlki: Glorifying the Head in Word and lmage retain a core of histo rical or iconographic elements th a t
Liter-ally meaning "head praise:· th e te rm on71i refe rs to a d e fines the essence and cha racter of tJ1e subj ect. Moreover,
eulogy o r poem (drofo) glorifyi ng the worth iness o r an indi- Yoruba artists in the pa t were ex pected, as part of I.he ir
vidual. It is c ha nted at cri tical moments Lo goad the head to u-aining, to fam iliarile themselves with tJ1e on«i of important
action and the reby spur a per o n to greater achieveme nt. 21 personalities and tJ1 e major on"'.\a (d e ities) in thei r com muni ty
For the head (()Ii) is perceived as the ca t of the dse (enabling and with indigenous theology, which I.hey took into consid-
power) tha t determ ines one's idenLity and ex istence, influ- e ra tion when creating shrines a nd re lated images. Thus,
encin g beha,1or a nd person al d esti ny: apan from the ir ae t.he tic qualitie" shrine images s peak vol-
um es about Yoruba ociety, its social p1-actices an d worldview.
tr I have mo ney O ne of th e fundamentals of this worldview is that the
It is my Ori lheadl I wi ll prai ·e visible head (orf ode) is no more tha n an enclosure for the
My Ori, it is you inner, sp iritual head , call ed mi iml, which localizes t.he rise
If I have ch ildren o n earth that e mpowers 1he physical self.~H Altho ugh the dse e ma na tes
ll is my O ri LO wh o m I will give praise from the Supre me Be ing, it is mediated by Esu (pronounced
My Ori it is you i!.\h'll}, the divine messenge r a nd principle of d yna mism in
All the good t.hings r have on can.h the Yoruba co mos. 2 " One myt h claims that before an indi-
It i O rf I wi ll praise vidual is born into the physical world , its o ut must select an
My Oti, It is you .25 inner head (ori imi) from a collec tio n of ready-made clay
heads molded by t\jal{1, the h eaven ly potter. Becau e of I.heir
In effect. the head (ori) is tJ1e lord of the body a nd therefore association \\~th pe r onal destiny, these clay heads a re al:r
m u t be ackn owledged and g iven pride of place. A similar stracted a nd made to look similru-. tJ1 o ug h each i intrinsically
message is a pparent in Lhe e mphasis o n the head in Yoruba diffe re nL. T he one selected by an individual becomes an
a rt. 1t is al most a lways the biggest and tJ1e most e la borately integral part of the metaphysical self, constituting the in ner
fini he d pan of a typical figure sculpture, o fte n adorned with core of the physical head and de tc m1ining a person ·s lot o n
a crownlike coiffure o r h eadgea r (Figs. I, 2. 4. 18, 20).~b WitJ1 ea nh .:m In the dista nL past, most adult Yo ruba dedicated a n
this co mplem e ntarity or word a nd image in mind, t.h e Yoniba a ltar called iborf to th e inner head in the fo nn of a cone-
linbrt1istic scho la r Olabiyi Yai has suggested , "Whe n approac h- shapecl obj ect covered with leather a nd adorned wi tJ1 cowrie
ing Yo ruba an, a n intellectual o ri e m a ti o n that wo uld be she lls (Fig. 3). O nce useci as currency. tJ1ese sh e lls allude to
consonant with Yo ruba traditi o ns o f scho la rship would be to th e wea lth that a "good head " can bring to a person. Apart
con ' icier each individua l Yo ruba art work a nd th e e ntire from concealing tha t per o n 's fa te (ipin), the ibori links t.h e
corpus as ori71i.'".!71l1is is because whil e mo ·t orild (e ulogies) self wi th Esu. who origina tes the motions, e motions, an d
un dergo cha nges and e mbellishme nt in the course o f lhei r aclions associalcd with bua. earthly ex.istence. As 1he d ivine
502 \R I lllll U 1 1:- ~H'LUl lHR '.!IJOI \ ' 0 1.t ' Mf I '''Jll :-. Ll \l ll l R J

p ie or inte lli gence, vig ilance, and su1ve ill ance, among others,
in Yoru ba culture. No wonde r th a t th e Esi'.1 image illus trated
in Figure 6. one of three o n ce install ed in a publ ic sq uare in
Ll1e middle of the village of igbajo (abou t L11irty-fiye miles
from lfe) was re portedly \"cll1dalized by ijesa warriors during
the ir invasion of i g baj o in th e 1880s;:ic; 1101.e the damage to
the left arm. Incidentally, E:si:1 is amhropomorphi7Cd h ere.
combin ing th e loo k of a c h il d \~tJ1 tJ1at o r an adult in a.llus ion
to th e parado xical , betwixt-and-between natu re or the d e ity
and his associatio n with the thresho ld-a recurring theme in
much or his ori'ki (eul ogies):

T he sho rt and tall o n e

Whose head is barely visible wh en he walks through a
peanut farm
Tha n ks to the fae1 tha t he is ve1) ' tall
But Esl'1 mus t climb the heanhsto ne in orde r LO pu t salt
in the sou p po l ...
Uibc'>latinde ,1 7 if rm1 reac h the fronl.ie1· and d o not
cncoumer him at th e citygatc worki ng in the field
You will find him in the vici nity and he is always acces-
ib le to everyon e, in cludin g the infirm.il8

Ayajora: Portraying I.he Physical Self

The emphasis on am (physical bod}') in the word tiJfijora
reveals the objective of 1he Yoruba artist in a naturalistic

4 Esu staff (Ogl> ih '1), Yoruba, h. 1 5 ~ in., ca. 19t h-201.h ccntUI)'.
Richmond. Virgin ia i\lu~e um o f Fine An~. T he Ar1h111- a nd
Margare1. Glasgow Fund (photo: Katherine Weucl )

messenge r a nd th e o mnipre c nt agency of tJ1 e S11p1-e m e Be-

ing in a ll li\•ing things, Esl:t i. asoj1i (the observer), 31 ancl 1h11s
tJ1 e cataly t for sigln.:~'.! Esu's co nn ec tio n with the head , espe-
cially the fa ce (oj1i), is illus Ln1Led by the p o pular notion that by
blinking his eyes, he can make a person loo k beautiful o r
ug ly.:i:s Even fe llow ori~o in th e Yoruba pa11Lheon d e pend o n
Esu for th e ir vision ; accordin g to a myth , he once confused
Od1'1d1.1wa's sig ht, wi th the n:sul l tJrnt the laLter mistook the
di vina t.ion deity ( £fa) for a leopard a nd ra n away in fri g hr.:H
In o the r wo rds, Es l"1 activates the face, th e site of p e rce ptio n
and co mmuni ca tio n, re flecti ng tJ1c feelin gs of pai n and plea-
sure, joy a nd sorrow, hope a nd de p air. a nd ot h e r p asl>io n s
assoc iated with temporal existe nce and be h a,~or. The Yoruba
word for a facade is oj1i-if!i (literally, the face o f the h o use)
because the fa cade is to a h o use what the face is 10 the bod)',
a n index of identity. T he doors o r a h ouse ope n and closej usL
like th e eyes. That is why Esi1 image or sta ffs are ofte n
placed , fo r sec urity purpo es. n ear the d oorway, a t L11 e c ross-
roads, and at th e Lo wn gates. o m e have 1wo faces loo kin g in
o pposite directio n s (Figs. 4 , 5), as Llrnugh m o nito 1ing devel-
o pme nts from wi thin and wi Lho11t, from left a nd ri ght, from
above a11d below, and fro m nea rby and th e g reaL beyond .:ir.
Th e cow1ie sh e lls o n this ·taff d e note the b lessi ng · Ll1at Esi'.t
m ay bestow on th o ·e h e favo rs, despite Iii · prankishness. T h e
nute o r whis uc m o tif ide n Lifies him bo th as th e he ra ld . who
coordina tes the ac li,~ties o f a ll the d eiti e , ;mcl as a gate-
keeper, g uide , and de tecti\'e. He thus exe mplifies L11e princi- 5 Back \'iew of Fig. -l (photo: KaLherin e Wetzel)
 lllf ~Fl~ \\ll II ~ \ JllAl'll\\l(AJ 0 11 11'.R IN \ORC li \ ,\R 'I 50~

portrail ( Fig. 7-15): LO capLure a recogni zable like n e ~of the

ubj ecL wiLh an emphasis on ojti a1111iway; (literally, earthly
face), 1he face one is born wiLh and whi ch identifies o ne' iwa
( le lluric existence). This face is Lime-bound, changing wit11
mood and age.:1!1 H owever, th e a nisL freq uently ignores Lh e
transitory e motiona l aspects, idcali7Jng o nly Lhose feature
th at faci li tate identity, Lh e e mphasis be ing on jijora. o r what
Robe rt FatTi Tho mp on calls a "midpoint mimesis'' between
absolute ab trac tion a nd ab olme likene s.~ 0 In the past,
many Yoruba LreaLed th e naLuralistic representatio n o r a
living per on wit11 ambivale nce ror two main rea ·ons. One
ste ms fro m a popular nolion lha t every living pe rson has a
pirit partne r ( a "look-alike'') in hea,·e n called enihPji (hea\'-
e nly d o uble) who offers piritual protec tion to its earthly
counle rpart. 11 The c reation of'a life likene in arc (a hum an-
made ''look-alike'') i · pe rce ived a a distraCLion tha t ma)'
jeopardize this re lationship, cau ing t11e hea\'e nly d o uble Lo
withdraw its pi1iwal prolection. The second reason has to do
with the belief that through sympatheti c magic, a nawralisLic
po rtrai t could be transforme d into a UITogate for Lhe h11man
body a nd then ma nipulated for posi ti\'e o r negative ends. For
in 1.ance, in preventi,·e medicine called idira or is6ra (fortify-
ing the body), a portrait, infu eel with cha1ms, is kept in a
secure place o r a i.hiine Lo immunize t11 e re fere nt from
witchcraft and infectious diseases. 12 In sorcery called iisr1.i
(evil spell) o r Mi (lethering) , an image may be gagged or
strangled or have sharp objects driven into the eye , ears, or
t11roat to di able, ma im. or kill th e pe rso n it represents. In
another type of sorcery called apfije (insuuct and o ber). th e
subj ect i hypnotized , via a culpte d po rtrait, to ac t or behave
irrationally. s11ch as dancin g \\~ th o ul music or laug hin g a l
rando m for no justifiable rea o n. In ·ome cases, a phy ical
like ness is not neces a ry; giving Lh e image the subjecL's name
o r an ach ing an article from his o r he r body (such as clC>Lh ing,
a lock of hair, o r a nail paring) '\~I I su.ffice. 43
Yoruba diviners Lrace most acts o f sorcery to tlwon aye, th e
C\~l -rnind ed o nes, such as witche , sadist5, li\'al , jealo us
neighbors. e nemies, o r close relatio ns who either ha,·e a few
old score to settle or impl y e nvr the su ccess of a noth e r
indi,idua l. Of major conce rn is Esu, the unpredictable u·ick- 6 Esi:1 statue, Yoniba, fo rmerly located in igbajo, soapstone,
h . 24 in., ca. 19th century. Lago:.. National Commission for
ste r, d ivine messenger, and controller of fa te who could be
Museums an d :Vlo num cn LS (phow: fluthor. 199!i)
benevolent at one mo ment a nd ma levole nL the n ext, capri-
ciously turningjoy into sorrow, and \ice versa. He is the 11gcnt
provocateur who plays a lo t of pranks "i th a view LO reform- expressive manner: the re i the fear that enemies mig ht read
ing huma nity. Like the tiickster mo tif in o th er cultures, E ti arrogance into an inn ocent smile. teal the po rtrait, and
embodie · what Lewis Hyde calls the "paradoxical category o f in Liga te a sorcerer to ha rm the ~ubj ect through it. 17 Thil.
sacred amorality'· by which socie ties artic ulate a nd regulate explain why na t uralis uc portraits a re fe w and far between in
th eir social life a nd be havio r.+' Tha t is why th e Yoruba code Yo ruba an a nd th ere is little in terest in phy ·iog no my, tha t is,
of ethic e ".jo ins everyone to be courteous, socia ble, re pect- the use of the face to reveal th e "soul'' or chantctcr or the
ful , humble, diploma tic, and to "bear both wealth and pov- subj ect. 18
ert)' stoi callr.'" 1'' Also. o n e must exe rcise self-<:onu·ol in the
face of pro,·ocatio n or temptation; o ne must learn a lesson Mo and lpcide: Naturalistic Second-Burial Effigies
from th e OIOfefun ra myth. According to tl1 e myth , 016fe- for the Dead
fUnra, a d e i1r in ancient lfe. had a pec ulia r way o f welcom ing H owc\·er, during econd-buria l ce remonil' for the dead, na t-
\-isitors to its gro\'e by laughing lo udly and making hum orous uralistic portraits appear with some frequency (Figs. 7- 12). 1'1
remarks as th o ugh he wa re unitin g with old a nd lo ng-missed T his can be ;_uu·ibutecl to two majo r fac Lor . The tir~L d erin·~
fri end s. Bui should a n>' visitor reciproca te, his or her facia l [rom 1h e he lief tha t the soul of a deceased person now
feau1 res ··would re main pe rmanently fixed in the co ntortion o perates at a upcrhuman pla n e or exisLCnce a nd o is im-
of mirthl ess laug ht e r!'· 1G By the sa me token . it would be risky mune LO sorcery.''0 T h e second is th at th e mn emoni c power
to allow o ne ·e lf' LO be pon ray<:'d in a nawralistic and overtJ,· of a lifc-:.ize naturalistic effigy (lik6) yi\ ifiei. 1he presence or the
504 A RT IH l l. U 11 :0.. S t: l'l l:: Mlll:.R 200 1 VO i l , MI:. l.X XX JII NIJ\HHR 3

7 U11clo1.hc~ second-b urial effigy rcpreseming th e ch ief of a 8 Vi ew of F'ig. 7 partially clrcs~ccl for a parade through the
'~llage near Owo, wood and paim, 1949 (pho t.o: Ju~ tin e Cordwell) villagt· (pho to: Ju Line Cordwe ll )

d ead dudng 1.he seco nd-burial ce rem o ny, e na bling mourners deceascd .r.~ T his partly explains why some seco nd-buria l effi-
to Lreat. 1.hc image as if it. were a live. The costl y cerem o n y gies look much )'Olinger Lhan Lh e d eceased at the Lime o f
usually ta kes place som e d ays or weeks after I.h e burial o f th e death. Thanks 10 mo d e rn photography, m an y families now
co rpse and is normally performed o nly fo r 1.he ri ch and keep photo album from whic h a good picture of Lh e d e-
fam ous as welJ as for those who h ad live d to a ripe o ld age and ceased (u sua lly in hi or he r middle age) may be selected and
were su rvived by childreu.r.• O ne of 1.he reasons for the given tu an artist to tran sla te into a seco nd-burial e ffigy. Since
cerC"mo n y is that it would enable the d eceased to carry over to th e im age is usually co wme cl. 1.he carve r pays most anen ti o n
Eht'n-l~ori (the Afle rli te) th e hig h ·1.a 1.us achieved on earlh . Not to the head, forearms, and legs, leaving 1he o th er pa r ts of the
until th e performance o f this cer e mo n y will 1.lte sottl of th e body relatively unfin is he d (Fig. 7). During a cypi cal <ik6 ce r-
deceased leave th e community. Failure o f th e ch ildren to d o e mo ny, th e effigy, dressed in th e be ·t clothe of the d eceased
so in time o r after a reasonable p e 1iod may ca use the soul LO (fig. 8), would be di ~ playe d i11 his or he r residence for a few
h aunt them in the fo tm o r a ghost. ln addition , a~ a n anist days LO al low frie nds. relations, and well-wishe rs to pay the ir
mus t h ave b een aquainted with th e d eceased to p rod11ce his last re pect5. Specially de ig nated famil y memben; ch ant the
o r h e r visual likcne ·s, th e l o n~e r the inte rval be tween the first on71i (eulogy) of th e clece<L5ed a l regu lar interval . Fo r example:
bu1·ia l (of th e rea l corpse) aJtCl the second (of the effigy) the
weaker th e a rli st' pictorial me mory or
1.be deceased. To 6ronaye (0!)
circumvent lhi proble m , a n a ni l is allowed LO use as a ~fay yo u be fortunate
referen ce po int th e face of a c hild who close ly re c mbles Lhc May your fo rtun e last
 J ill '~ I F \N IJ ll S \HI \l' llY ~ ll \ l O lln R IN YOR l ' ll\ \RI 505

You, who have the grea t sword .. ..

T he sharp sword that draws blood
The o n e of g rea t fame
~·l y fa the r is the g rea t o ne being celebrated
A p o pular ma n of Owo
Great me n o r 6wo, m y fat he r is the grea t one be ing cele-
brnted.:;:i

Afte r the indoor ceremon ie , th e image would be carried in

a public p rocessio n around the town accom pan ie d by survi-
vors. a ll singing and wishing the deceased a happy retirement
in Ehin-lwa, th e Afterlife:

Do not cat mi ll ipedes

Do not eat ea rLhwom1s
ll's what they eat in rh e Afterlife
That you sho uld eat
May you fare well
Until we cro ·s paths
Until you a p pear in o ur dreams
ha ll we meet again. 5 1

Throug h the effigy, message are sent to long-dead ancestor .

At the same time, th e newly dead is beseeched not to fo rget
the living a nd to u e his o r h e r spi1itual powers to protect
them.:'3 After th e public procession, th e effigy is buried ,
destroyed , o r a bandoned in the fore t.:;(j
Fig ure 9 is a por u·aic of th e late Queen Am e ri Olasubude of
Owo, carved by L•muren fo r O lasubude 's second-buri al cer-
e mony in l 94-l.. The po rtrait, however, was rejected by the
fam ily of th e deceased on th e grounds tha t the a rtist did not

10 Full view of Fig. 9 o n display in the Owo Museum of

Antiquities (photo: Robin Poyn or, 1973)

achie\'e enough idealization. For instance, th e toes a nd fin-

gers of the figure a re touch ing o n e another (Fig. I0) instead
of be ing carved separate. as requi red b 1 1radition:• 7
Unlike th e tlko. which is almost a lway a full fi gure tha t can
be displayed in a seated positio n by virtue or its a rti culated
bodr and limbs, the ipride (a hu111cr\ ·econd-burial memo-
rial) is u uall)' un anic11la tccl. On ly the head is finish ed , wi th
th e res t of the bod)' given a rudim entary treat me n t, as in the
poru-ait of Chief Aniwe, o ne of the most powerful hunte rs in
Ire before h is death in 1962 (Fig. 11 ). It was carved b)' Ta)'e
Adcgun. A sh ort s tick nailed to the chest o f th e figure serves
as Lhc ·ho ulclers for fitti ng o ne o f' 1hc garm ents of th e de-
cea~ed (Fig. 12).:'H In some cases, two sticks shaped like a
cross and draped with a ha t and gann ent o ft he deceased may
serve as a substitute for a naturalistic effigy."9 A portrait statue
carved by Taiwo Faclipe o f the late C hief Akinyemi Osogtm of
Ire , a hi gh-ran kj ng prie t of Og1111 (iron and war deity) who
died in 1964 , was later acqu ired by the lfe Museum of Antiq-
u ities. 111 1976. I iook a print o f the s tall!e ro the com po 11nd
of the deceased, where I compared it wi th a photograph of
him. The ~tatuc bon: on ly a fa int resemblance to the de-
ceased, but the th rec marks (dbitjri ) on the c heeks a rc exacLly
9 Lamurcn, sern n<l-burial ~ffigy (rl h6) of Queen Amcri
Olasubude. detail of face. Owe), Nigeria, wood, paint, and th e same as Lhose o n the p hotograph . conceivably creating
fabric. 1944. Owo Museum of Antiquities (photo: Robin enough likene s for those wh o knew Chief' Akinye m i Osogun
PO)'l10r. 1973) when he was al iYe.'' 0
506 ,\ K"l lll l. l. £ rl :-I S!o.1' 1'1-:MIHK ~ 0 01 \' Ol. L1 ~ 11:. LXXXIll NlMIH k ,

12 View of Fig. 11 costumed and abando ned in the fores t.

1962 (pho to: Fra nk Will ett)

where many beaded crowns are displayed, though no t o n

po nrnit heads, He 111) ' Drewal i of th e opinio n that t.11 e
11 Taye Adegun , unclo th ed memo ria l (1padP) figure or A11iwe, life-size l ft~ brass heads mig ht have been "created to d isplay
a famous hunter. l ie, Nige ria, wood and paint, approx. 40 i11. , actual regalia in a s hri ne con text," perhaps d uring an a nnua l
1962. lie Museum of Antiq ui ties (photo: auth or, 1976)
i-ite of purificatio n a nd renewa l for the king and hi people.r..1
While the possibili ty ca nn o t be niled o ut altogeth e r, i1 does
n o t necessarily follow that all Lh e heads performed o nly this
T h al th e m cm01·ia l fun cti o n of the "lifelike" im age has a func ti on in Lhe past. Nei ther docs the public percepti on of
long histoI) ' in Yo ruba culture see ms to b e attescecl by the the king as d ivine automatically p reclude him fro m being
discove •)' at Ifc o f everal naturalistic, life-size brass heads h onored with a econd-bmial ceremo ny. Despite the king's
date d be twee n the twe lfth and fifteentJ1 centui-ie · C.E. (Fig . lim inal s ta tu ' a nd the sec1·ecy s urrounding his d ea th and
l 3, 14). 1" Some of th e m wear crowns. while o thers h ave ho les bu rial, it is public knowledge th a t he is a fl esh-and-blood
aro und t.he ha ir line , a ppare mly fo r sec uring real headgears hu1m111 be ing who re igns a nd the u passes away. T he popular
o r c rowns. A.most a ll the h eads have ho les a t th e neck (Fig. saying "Oba mewa: lgba mewa" (T en kings; ten e pochs)
13), indicating th at they mig h t have bee n na iled to 1rnodcn ma kes it clear t.11at th e notion tha t th e king doc no t die is
torsos and attirt"d in th e same manner as the dk6. Co n e- o nly a metaphor fo r the antiqu ity and contin uity o f divine
qne nt.ly, Justine Cordwell a nd Frank Willett have suggested kingship a mong the Yoruba. As tO be expected , a good king
t.liat most of th e h eads were p robab ly used in fune ral or would be fon dly rem embe red; a bad 011c could be impeached
sccond-bui-ial cere mo ni es fo r kings and o the r distin g ui shed by a council o f elder (called Ogb6ni in so me areas) a nd if
pcrsons.u2 T his ·peculatio n has been ques tio ne d o n the found g uil ty or a se rio us offence. fo rced to commi t suicide or
grounds th at th e creation of a funera l effigy for a king (oba) execu ted. In faCL, ome unpopu la r Lf'e kings oft.he eightee n th
is in compatible wit.11 t.11e public perception o f him as a d ivine and nineteenth ce 11tu1ies met with '~ole n t death s a t tJ1e
being who does not die but simply disa p pears '' into L11 c hands o f the ir subjects.nr. Mo reove r, a kin g's mo rta lity is
carLh. "63 In view ofa cere mo ny in present-day C)kuku during explici t in the lvord nbrl/Jaku, referri ng to "th ose who d ie with
whi ch the king of the town makes saciificial offe rin g to his lbe king" in order t0 e rve him in th e Afte rlifc.bfi T he q ues-
"in ner head" (ori imi ) in a s pecia l room in ide the palace tion th en arises: I[ c hieli. a nrl o ther importa nt persons could
 T i lt: ~ ti F \Nil 1r ~ \lll.U' ll\' 'tlC \I Ol lltll. I N \ORLIB\ ,\ RI' 507

be honored wi1 h a befiuing farewe ll or second-burial cere-

rnonr-to enable them lo can)' over to the Afterlife the high
·taLUs achieved on eanh-why no1 the king himselr, the most
distinguished indhidual in <1 given community? That the
ceremony was pe1-formed for king in ancie m Ife may be
inferred from a lege nd that palace officials once colluded
with court ani L to delay the appoinunent or a new king.
Instead of di closing the death of the incW11bent king to the
relevant authoritie , the e official in tailed his effigy in a
dark corner of 1.he tate roo m a nd co ntinued to conduct
bw;iness as usual, issuing orde r.~ on behalf of th e dead king.
The enior chiefS a nd members or Lhe public unsuspectingly
paid ho mage to the effigy u11Lil 1he cieception was uncov-
ered.ui Thi lege nd has l>,'O implica tio n-. Fir ·t, it uggests that
the plotters had misapproptiated an effigy that could have
been used evemually for th e econd-bu rial ceremonr of the
same king and wh ich, predictably, would have received a
similar homage and befitting farewell me' ·ages. econd, it
corroborates the the is 1ha t the ho les around the hairline of
the lil'c-size lf'e heads (Fig. 13) might have been used for
securing a bead ed crown ~~th veil ( ome till have bead
fragmems) 1hat would ha,'e co\'ered the face-as th ey nor-
mally do when worn by the king (Fig. 22).'"'l The holes
arou nd the mouth probably sported a combinatio n of beard
and mustac he that would have further ob cured Lh e face,
thus enabling the alleged conspiracy to succeed for a whiJe.
Finally, that second-burial ceremoni es for kings we re com-
mon in the past i · evidem in the Arlamf1orisa (Eyo) ob equ)'
of the Awori Yoruba of LagosYY mil recently, a new king
wou ld nol be a llowed LO pe rform ccnain lites until he had
hcompleted the final funeral ceremonie · of his predeces-
sor ... which included Lhe stagi ng of the Aclamuorisa ...... ;o
Two of the most memorable Adamf1cirisa were performed for
Oba (king) Akitoye on Fe brua ry 20, 1854 , and for Oba Do-
sumu o n April 30, 1885. ii However, unlike Lh e clk6 figure,
which may be carried in a public proce sion, the Adamuorisa
(Eyo) ~eco nci-burial effigy fo r a deceased king is displa cd
inside the palace o nly. The effigy is u ually a bana na u·ee
trunk dre sed up in exp e nsi\'e clothes a nd made to look like
a real human fig ure wearing a haL or crown, though th e face J 3 Head of an noni (king) of Ile, Yoruba. Ire, brass,
is cove red with cloth. The display is accompanied b)' drum- h. 1 2%, in., G t. 12Lh- l!'ith cenn1ry. Lago . National Commi. sion
for /\iluse11111s and MonumenLS (photo: cOp)rt·igh1 1979
ming and eulogizing, as is done fo r an rikrJ figure. On the las1 Dirk Bakker)
day or the cere mony, hundreds of' Ero masquerades in \\1hite
robes participate in a p ublic parade lo bid the deceased th e
last farewell.;~ Since a king' corpse is sometime. dismem-
bered for 1-itual purpo es, a sccond-bu1ial effigy is, a it were, while before returning to lfe, where he e\'emuaJly died . 7 :~ The
a "re-membe1ing" of that body, providing a unique opportu- Benin practi ce may \'Cl)' well b · a \~arialion on an a n cient
nity for a farewell ceremon y that would enable th e deceased Yon.1ba riwal o r rcmo,fog the head of a deceased king a nd
to cany over to the Afterlife 1he hi gh ' Latus achieved on using it for the transfe r of royal power LO his succe sor. 7' 1T he
earU1. latter th en kept 1.he head "among his principal objects of
There is ample e\idencc that the lfe heads might also have worship.";.-, Could 1.he need to preserve th e heads and mem-
functioned in interregnum, succe sion. and/ or corona1ion ories of famous kings for a lo nger p e1iod h ave led to the
ceremonies, a mo ng o th ers. According to a Benin oral tradi- creati on of the i1· li keness in bra s? If so. could this phe no m-
tion. before the fourteenth ce mury, the head o f a deceased enon be responsible for the carcity o f the life-si7e royal
Be nin king (oba) was taken to lfe fo1· burial a nd. in return , a heads? As yet, only ahout sixteen or so ha\'e been recovered
brass head would be sent LO Benin along with other royal o ut of almost fifty rule1·s on Lhe lfe king lisl.; 6 Eve n then, only
emblems to con6nn 1.he successor o n the th rone. This is a handfu l of the h eads can now be positively identified with
because Oranmi}'an. one of Odi:1duwa's youngest sons, particular indi\·iduals. The mask in Figure 14, fo r instance, is
fo unded the Eweka ruling dynasty in Be nin between the said 10 re present Oo ni (king) Ob ~dt1f<.'> n . the o n o r Osan-
thirtee nth and founeemh centuries and rnled th e re ror a gangan Oba111[1kin, an lfe indigene who ·ucceedcd Oduduwa
508 ,\Kl IH I LE I l'I ~Frrf.MIH. K 211111 \ "0 1 l ' \fl;; l.X'0.111 ' l' \ llU . K :s

14 Mask said Lo represe11L Obaluron ,

Yoruba. Jle. brass, h. 11% in., ca.
12th-I 5Lh century. Lagos, NaLiona l
Commissio n for Museums and
MonumcnLS (phoLo: copyrigh1 1979
Dirk Bakker)

probabl)' because he sided wi th 1he lauer in his quest f'or one who introduced brass casting to L11e Yo ruba. Thus, it may
poli1ica l su premacy. 77 Oball'tfr)n (also known as Alayemoore) very well be L11aL the rradition of making life-size brass heads
ascended llw Lhrone after hi · fathct"s death bu1 rrigned ror al lfe began during his reign. The sty li ·tic similarity o f th i.
o nly a s ho rt period before being deposed by Onlnmfya n , who mask to the 0L11er life-size heads, d ated be t.ween Lite Lhi r-
had ea rli er left lft: to found rnling drnas ties in Benill a nd Old teen th a nd fifteenth cemuries. s11ggcsLS tha t it was probably
Oy6. Oballifon \1"<1 recalled from exile w reocrnpy the lfc made within the ame pcriod.110 Despite the popular legend
throne after the death of Oranmf}'an. The exact tim e of hi~ that Odttduwa 0 1;ginated the bead-embroidered crown
reign is unknown, though so me hi~lor;an arc inclined to put (which he then gave to his ons, who subseq uently lcf"t lfc to
it at Lhe begi nning or the second millenninm c.1·.. I le is said become ki ngs in other parts of' Yontbaland) , Oballifon is
10 have changed the Litle of Lite W:• king from o/6jin (owner of regarclcd a the epitome or that crown , apparently because or
the palace)-i11u·orluced b)' Ocll1duwa-10 ooni (owner or the his Io n!-{. peaceful reign an d hi cxemplal)' leadersh ip. This
land ) Lo indicaLe Ll1e renrrn of the lie indigenes (Lllat is. 1he ma) explai n wh • al the coronation of a new king in lfc, th e
pre-Odttrluwa people ) 10 power.71< Before Obalt:1ron ascended crown would tirst ht> placed o n Obalt'lfon's "h ead "-a swne
the throne, Ht· h ad been rnnstanLlr raided by th e i~bo , a image- before being pm o n a new king' head. 81 T he open-
pro-Obat.ala group in exile thaL refu eel to acknowledge ings below th e eyes of the Oba lt1f011 mask suggest that it was
Odt:1duwa's sovereignty. Thi~ group was defeated. pacified. worn on the face . It is rh crcfore not impossibl e, as Suzanne
and re imegratecl into lfc societ)' during Obalt:1f011 's reign , Blier has propo· cd, tlrnt the mask might be integrally linked
when the city wi tn e sed an unpreccclcmcd era of' pt•ace, Lo this ceremony and "L11e related rites of rulership transi-
cultural clevclopmem. and e conomic pr osperiry. 7 !1 Ohitltrlon tion·· in the pasL, re necting Obalufo11's legendary co11Lribu-
is remembered today as a great patron of the arts a nd as the tions 10 th<' ea rly formation o f 1.he lie s tate and his posthu-
 TIH ~tU i\:-.:O 11~ \IFT .IPll\~I C.ll. Ol ll lR I ' YORLI\ ,\ .\IH 509

15 Head said Lo represent Lajuwa,

Yornba, He. Le rra-cotta. h. 12 ~ in.,
ca. 12th-15th ce ntur~. Lagos, lational
Commission for Museums and
.Monum ents (photo: copyiight 1979
Dirk Ba kke r)

mous deificatio n a nd associatio n \\~ Lh p ro ·pe li ty a nd good gro up cam e LO !fl_· from th e northeast. wh ic h so me sch o lars
governmenL. 8 ~ h a\'e ide ntified with the r\ile valley or th e Arnbian Penin-
A tc 1Ta-coua portrai t head assigned w the amc period as u la.i<:.
the Oba!ufon mask (Fig. 15) is said LO com me morale Lhe Be that as it may, the palace conspiracy cited earlie r is ·o
usurpe r Lajuwa, the chamberlain who te mpo rarily seiLed the similar to Llijt'.1wa ·s that o ne i ~ tempted to i.a kt> th e cwo as
thron e a fter the death or Ooni Aworokolokin, Oba!Ufon ' different versions of Lhe same event. Yet tJ1 ey could ve1y well
succe or. ll1ere is an a llegatio n that Awo rokolokin did no t refer to separate even ts. T h e cha nces are that l~jll\\ra had
belong LO th e Odi':iduwa fac ti on a nd th at he "probably died b)' exploited an established tradition of using a n effigy o r a
ome fo ul mean a t Lh e han ds of h is cou rtiers. after his wife huma n surrogate to rep resent or impersona te the king when
had been a bducted ...1t:\ L~juw·a reportedly hid hi coi-pse, h e could no t be ph} ically p rese n t in m un or a t a public
wore the royal regalia, and tarted impe r o na ling the king. ceremony. The cove r provided by tJ1e beaded crown witJ1
The d isguise succeeded fo r some time a ppare nt.l)' beca use, as fringe m ight have e ncou raged L11is tradition, apart from the
me ntioned earli er. t.he fringe or th e beaded crown n o rmally fact that, in Llw past. the king frequentl y used a n inte rprete r
obscure th e face of th e perso n wealing it (Fig. 22). But the who a lready knew what to ·ay. Even wdav, some kings arc
trick was soon un covered a nd Uijuwa wa execute d al ong bare!}' a udible, lea"ing th e in terpreter to spea k on thei r
with accomplices, although his na me continues to appear in be hal f-w hic h conceivably migh t have made it c a ier in the
some lfe king Ii ts. 11'1Laj11wa's long, wavy hairstyle might lend past for an impersonator LO pass for the king. For example, a t
omc creden ce to Lhi sto 1y in Lhat it eems w be tray his Old 6y6, whose rnling dynasty was fou nded by 6ranmiyan
mixed ancestry, recalling the lege nd tha t Odt'.1duwa and hi (who la te r returned to lfc to depose Ob;\ll'1fo n during his firs t
5 JQ \Rf Ill 11 tll :'ll !>t. l 'IUIR ~R ~0111 \01 l l \H I ':>.:>.Ill 'l'\l lHR :1

wheLhe r all of them w<"rc made IJ)' o nly one artist, artists from
the sa me wo rks hop, o r artist~ from cliffe1·ent 1rnrks h o p ~, re-
moved in time and space.8 \l T he ~i m i larities of the face~ could
be clue 10 Lhe fact tha t Lhe anists probably did 1101 work
directl y from life models, and tJ1erefo rc had to depend pa rtly
o n me mo!')' a nd partly on time-ho no red formulas fo r rep re-
senting the huma n face. Note Lha t a good 1muority of Lhe
head s have a dignifi ed look, ''~th relaxed facia l muscles: the re
is litllc o r no auempt ro express emotion. This ideali zation
recalls the pre mium placed by tJ1c Yoruba on composure,
suggesting. a t the same time, th at Lh e a rtists m igh t have been
wo rkin g within a s1ylis1ic idio m p resuma bly aimed at relating
a ll Lh e incli1~ d uals portrayed as 01110 Oduduwd, or me mbe rs or
the same ··extended'' familyY0 Jean Borgatti has o bscn ·ed a
similar te nde ncy in o th er part~ o f AS1i ca, namely. the down-
playing of ''i ndividual" in favor or "social" ide ntil)', whe n an
artist simplifies ilie face LO conform LO a rchetyp<'s ha nded
down fro m th e past, tho ugh Lhf'r<' is enough room for a rtistic
inventions wiLh in a give n ·tyli tic conven tionY 1
Not a ll tJ1e n a turalistic rigures from ill: and Owo had
fullc tioncd in secon d-burial co n texts. T h is is co nfirm ed by
the fact that some arc not life-si1.c, while others have their
m ouths gagged, recalling the custom of muzzlin g the vic-
tims of human sacrifice 10 prevf'nt tl1em from cu rsing th e
head man.!12 We are a lso reminded of Mi, the so rcery (me n-
tioned above) for re ndering a person 1ong11e-Lied. One striking
terra-cotta figu re excavated from ObaJar~t 's lan d (lfe), dated
between Lhe thirtee n th and fourteen th ccn turies ( fig. 16),
wear a skull pendant around tJ1 e neck; the face is con toned.
1\lith th e moULh wide open , rc\'Cali ng the:- tongue. Other
figures from L11e site have swollen face ·.'111 1l1 c finding of such
re presentations am id rirua l vessels and severa l human skulls
a nd bon e has led w the hypotJ1esis that th e site " 111 11~ 1 have
ome direct releva nce 10 human d eath" and thaL "tJ1c te rra-
16 Head wi tJ1 a wrinkled face, Yoruba, rre, Lerra-cot ta , h. 6 in., coti.as also may have played ·omc part in /1ost-111or/1' 111 ,;tual.~\H
ca. 13th- 11th ce ntu ry. lre, Obafcmi Awolowo University fl is significant that the ite belongs LO th e Obalara family.
Collec tion (pho1n: frank Willen ) The head or the family is a pries t of Owi nni, a deified a nce -
tor who e shrine once se rved a~ a sa nc tua1y for smallpox
suffe re rs. This fac t, ru. Peter Garla kc poinL~ out, cou ld l'Cl')'
term in o ffice), a coun officia l calleci Osiefa speciali1.:ed in well link 1hc terra-cotta!> to rites ai med at p reve ntin g the
impersonating Lh <' king legitima tely wea1i ng his crown a nd recurrence of infectio us diseases in the communiLyY" Ecp1a lly
receivillg the same h on ors cl ue th e kiu g whe n Lhc la tter could in tri guing is a fiftccn th-cen tlll1' te rra-colla representation
no L be physicall y present a t a pa rticular ccre n1 ony.'% While from C)wo (abo ut eigh ty miles omheas1 of Cfe ) or a baske t
there is no evicicnce as yet tJ1at a si milar official imper onated filled with severed head slashed o n the face (Fig. 17) . Ac-
Lhc king in a ncie m lte. it is significant Lha1 one ofLhe early lfc co rding to Chief Obadio, tJ1e high priest of Oduduwa in Ife,
kings, Ooni Giesi, o ften asked his daughter ( De booye) Lo hum an sacrifice was offered Lo Lhe deity in 1he past and that
rep resent hilll al certain ceremo ni es because he was too o ld "terraco tta h uman heads a dorn the riwal sp o !!;.''flli rn that
LO aLtend. Th e questi ou Lhcn a rises: Co11ld some of th e lte
87
case, can we regard this basket of heads from Owo as a
life-size head s have been made at Lhe beginning o f a new ,·aria1ion of th e prar1 ice at 11e?97 Or arc Lhe heads substitutes
king's reig n wiLh surrogate. rit11al , memorial, and other func- fo r real ones in between majo r sacrifices? Insu ffici e11t arch ae-
tions in mind?~ll The a nswer LO this question musL await ological evide nce m ake~ it impossible a t the mo me nt to an-
furth e r investi ga1i on . None th eless, th e promine nce given to swer any or these q uestions with confi dence. Wha1 seems to
royal regalia a nd bearing in ma ny of Lhl' undcrlife-si1.:c por- be fai r!)" cenain is tliat in the past, nawralisti c portraics had
u-.iits in ilie JfC corpus ( Fig. I) hin ts a t a ro11rt a11 pa1e11Lly pr ecise, limited , a nd specia lized fun ctions in riLUa l a nd cer-
concern ed as much with th e pe rsonal appearance of the emonial comcx1s in which recognizabilicy of a l il~ ng or de-
living as with Lhe collective 111emo 11' of L11e dead. ceased person was vc11' important.
Afwr swdying them for more L11ai1 four d ecades, Frank
Wille ll, alon g with other sc holars, has o bse rve d thaL rna ny of Aroyci: Imaging the Metaphysical Self
tJ1 e lfi: lifc-sizt· heads share cenain "fam il}' n:semblances" ~W h ere<1 s
i11 <i)•fijora (Lhe na turalistic portrai t), a Yo ruba artist
bo tJ1 in fom1 a nd style. However, it is not clea r at the momen t e ndeavors Lo summari Le the iwa, Lhe fact of being and tJ1e
 Till -~II· \Nil II '> \llT\l'HY'1(.\I Oll ll·R '" YORL' ll\ \RI 51 I

17 Baske t wiLh sen~red heads. Yoruba, Owo, Nigeria, terra-

coua, ca. J-J.Lh- I 5th ccmury. Lago~ , National Commission for
Museums a nd Monuments (ph o10: Frank 'v\lilleu)

observable and recogn izable fea tures of the physical e tr. in

rirO)'lt (th e co n ceptual portrait), he is m o re con ce rned with
tht' e~se n ce of the ubject or the metap h ysica l self. This is
particu la rly the case with memorials used in com municatin g
with a d em a teria li1ed ~ou l in Ehi11-iw<i. 1he Afterlife (Figs. 18.
20). As it i ~ imisible to the naked eye, th is O ther elf-the
·out- can on ly be imagined. For thi · reason , m o t a ltar m e-
mo rials arc styliLed to sign it) the retu rn of a dematerial iLed
soul from telluric existence Lo "prcnaml" spii-iLUa li ty, as well
as its ability to be omn i pre ·em and 10 inte rced(' with the lmsa
(deities) o n behalf of th e living. Accordingly. a n a rt i!>t need
n ot know the dead Lo create an appropriate m emorial-
though he \\Ottld be b1·iefed abo ut gender identit\' or any
pecial mark worn on 1he face or body to idemif} the de-
ceased with a fa mily or lin eage. Howe\er, after lea\'i n g the
a rtist's workshop, the image usua lly undergoe~ Pf1ltii. a pcr-
onalintion or naming cc rc mo n )' a imed at establishing a
spiri 1ua l kinshi p bclween object a n d s u ~ject. The ce re mony
varies from place Lo place. Tn some cal.es. it in\'o lves the
dipping o f a memorial into the ,,·a 1cr (omi iweku) used in
\\'ashi ng th e corp e of the deceased and preserved for this
purpo ·e. In oth e r case , the image may be mbbed with the
soil (i!epaJ co llened from the grm·c o f th e deceased. There-
after, a g i, en image m ay be placed in a shdne, becoming th e
focus of prayer~, on1d (e ulot,ries), an d libations imendcd to
inOuence the deceased.
T h e shdne figu re pcrfom1s three m~jor function in
Yoruba re ligion. First, it is an ami (a ~i gnifier). oqjcctifying
ci1 e human es~e n cc of ci1e signifie d . making visibl e the imi ~­
ible, an d prO\'idi ng a locu o f \'cnera tion a nd devotion. ec-
ond, sin ce an (ona) comma nds admi ration-as indicated by
th e pop11 la r Yoruba name Ona11eye (literally, An i ~ ho n or-
abk)-a memorial sculpwre is olw11 i.'ye (a dignifie r ), ref lect-
18 Eq ut•strian image said to rc:prcscnt AlaaJ-in iingo, Yon1bn.
ing the hig h esteem in wh ich the deceased is helrl. T hird. it Oy6. Nigeria, wood , h. '.\8 in .. ca. 19th century. Lagos.
is <iroho (a '~su a l metaphor), e mbod)'ing a message; fOJ- exam - Natio nal Commi sio n for Mu se um~ and MunumcnL~ (photo:
ple, th e motif of a mother and child reminds a fe m ale ance;,- au1hor, 1973)
512 /\RI 1\lll l.t"'I IN ~El'l E\l lH . R ~001 \ "CH l'~IE I 'Xll. 11 1 'L' lllH. R 3

Lor of her maternal duLies as a prO\~der and nunurer, wh ile of the deceased twin imo it. T he reafte1-, the sta1uene is
a la nce-h o lding male figure implores a n ancesLor so depicted treated like a living child, being fed )'mbolically al the a me
Lo play the role of a prolector?' These fun ct.ions would seem tim e as th e su n~ ving twin is having itS food. lf a new dress is
to account for Lhe frequent nse of 1he equestrian warrior bough t fo r the surviving c hild, a rniniawre is acquired for the
motif (jngunjogun) to mem oriali ze male ancesto rs, in an al- stallletle. The one he ld by Lhis woman represe nts he r d e-
l.e mpt LO ·ccu re 1hei r benevolence and divine prOLection. A ceased twi n brother, who reported ly died about 1895, after
nineteenth-ccmury example is said LO commemorntc Alaafin which the memorial was carved . io3 T he picture was taken in
(king) Ofinran (Fig. 18), a grandson ofOduduwa and one of the early 1960s. The smallness of the stan1e- and twin me-
th e ea rliest kings of Old 0)'6, who ·e reign is often dated morials in ge neral-is both sym bolic and functional: on the
somewhe re in the fourteen th or fifteenth century.'-1~1 Yornba o ne hand, it reflects th e fact tha t, in Lhe past, a good majority
ora l tr<1ditio ns identify Alaa fin Ofinran, popularly called of the twin died in infan cy; on th e 01.her, the small size
a ng6. as a great magician a nd warrior who led the Old Oy6 faci litates po rtabiliLy, especia lly when th e stawe u e is brivcn Lo
cavah)' to man} spectacula r victories, re ponedly using his Lhe surviving twin to play with or when Lhe moth er dances
magical powers to a tu-act the thunde r tonn to 01·erwh elm his wi th it in honor of Lhe deceased twin. ff both twin should
e n e mie in the battlefield. On his rleath, he W'<iS deified <md die, anolher stalueLte is com missioned , and the two are
identified wil11 thund er power. Al leged to have been salvaged u-eated li ke li1ing c hildren in the hope that they wi ll be born
from the principal Sang6 shrine at O ld 0)16 before iL~ de- aga in LO the same mother (Fig. 20). 104 Tradit.ion requires the
struction by the Fulani abou t 1835, this eques u·ian statue ca rver LO give b oth statuettes tJ1e same facial featu res to
confl ates th e historical and the mythological aspects of empha izc the nnPnPss in their lwol/f'SS, even if t.he deceased
Sang6-1he war.-i o r k.i.ng and de ified ancestor who n ow hurls twins were not identical. Th e stalllettcs are usually placed in
clown the Lhunde rbolt fro m the sky. A imila r image•)' rever- a shri ne (Fig . 23) fo r co ntacLing th e souls of L11e departed
berates in his miki (eulogy). o fte n c ha nted in front of shrine twins in the Afterlife. The belief tha t the)' are capable o f
images dedicated to him: attract.ing good fo n u ne LO their pa rents is re flected in the
following 011711 (eulogy) of 1wins:
Your eyes are white like biuer kola nut
Your chee ks a re round like red kola nut . . .The intimate two , th e royal egrets, Lhe natives of
Fire-s pitLing masquerndcr , r o ku n IO!i
yo11 fri gh ten the big ca t. ... Offapring or 1h e colobus monkey of Lhe tree tops .... •oG
Fire in t.he eye, fi re in Lhe mo uth , fire on Lhe roof The intimate two by-pas eel the h o use [wom b] of the
You ride fire like a horse!wo wealth)'
By-passed the house [womb] of the rich and famo us....
Accordingly, this sta tue of Sang6 has a "sight-and- o und" Bm emered Lhe house [womb] of the poor
dimension that furth er dee pens Lhc metapho ric meanings of T ransfonn ing 1he poor into a rich per on .... 10;
aworriu. ft may be classified unde r what W j.T. Mitchell calls Apepa [sorce11'] cannot arrec1 th e natives or l so kun . ...
the "image tex t"- a n "inextricable weaving together of re pre- Boch wizards and wiLches pay homage to tJ·1e imima te
108
semaLion and discourse," so th at th e visible becomes read- two . ...
able, 101 and audib le. Contrary Lo expectat.i on s, ango looks
quie t a nd serene in th e statue: the horse is mo t.ionless. Thi 0)6 a ku la a d 'ere: Portraiture, Posthumous Beauty, and
ma nn er of represemat.i on i part of a complex ae th eLic Social Identity
u-ategy aimed at dissuading Sang6 fro m \iolem e ruptio ns; it The tradition of ded icating sh1i ne fig ures to the dead is said
is an exercise in "late nt ambiguity," 11nde rsco1ing th e fact that to date back to a n "Ede nic" period in Yoruba h is1011' railed
a n a rtistic representation can hardly do justice to th e kin e tics igbci lwase (lite rally. beginn ings o r existence), when h11ma n
of the th unde r to rm: Lhe la uer is be tter experienced 1han beings re po rtedly did not die a th ey do today. Wl!enever the
re prescnLed. The image falls into th e catego11· of what Philip phy-ical body became too o ld or weak to su Lain the soul
'"' h eelwright call L11e "inten sive ~)mbol ," which conceals a nd \\il11in it, a ll an individual n eeded LO do was LO enter a cave
reveals a t the sa me lime. 102 t.hat led LO heaven, where the soul would reincarna te in a new
One 01.her importruH Yoruba tradition of memo.-ial figure body and then come back LO resume ea1·Lhly life. io9 Whoever
is the ere ibeji, a ' taluetle dedi cated LO a dead twin (Fig. 19). was tired of lil'ing on earth re lllrned to heaven through th e
Underl)'ing th e practice is the no tion that wh ile 1wins are cave. Newly embodi ed so ul emered the eartJ1 through lhe
phys ically d ouble, they are spiritually o ne, and thus insepa- same cave. So111 e powe1·ful fi ~u res did not depart the n o rmal
rable. If one of them sho uld die. a sta tue tte is made to way; th(')' simply wrned into to ne figures.' 111 Thi · is called
localize the oul o f th e deceased. It is usually ke pt in a safe rlirli ota (th e a rt of becomin g stones) . According Lo J. A
place in the ho use ru1d some tim es given LO the su n~vin g twin Ademak.inwa. an indigene or lfe, where many ancie n t stone
LO play wiLh as ifiL were a d oll , the main object.ive being to u e figures abound, such a person, p rior LO dealh, wou ld com-
Lhe staLUe lle Lo maintain the spiritual bond between t.he mission a portrait that wou ld be hidden in a p lace known
lh~ n g and Lhe dead. The sta tueu.e, made LO reFlect th e gende r only to a few close friends. IL was these friends who st'cretly
of the deceased child, is normally commissioned from a buried tJ1e deceased and latl."r anno unced lo the general
can 1e r o n the recomme ndalio n of a di,~ n er. Whe n com- public that a well-known personality had n1rned imo stone,
ple ted, til e statueLLe is washed in herbal preparations before disclosing whe re the effigy had been hidden, whic h wou ld
be ing handed over ro th e di vi ner, who then invokes th e soul th en be set up as a shrine to perp('tua te the memory of the
 !Ill \f. U A:-:ll II ~ Ml:.IAl'll\~ l l.A L OT llfR I ' YORl fl\ ART 513

19 Woman holding Lh e memorial or

her decea ed rwin bro ther (carved ca.
1895). Yon1ba, igeria. 1960 (photo:
councsy Robert Farri Thomp ·on)

dccea~ed. 111 One su ch ston e dated Lo Lhe early pa n of Lhc the separatio n o f the em pirical self from its meLa-empirical
seco nd millen nium c.E. (Fig. 21) is said to commen10raLe 0 Lh er ; the human body becomes a co rpse. reverting, as iL
Tdena, a famous hunter and one of Lhe bodyguards of Ore- were, 10 wha Lit 11r<1 o rigina lly-an Prf' ( cul pture). The phrase
lt'1e ri:. Lhe cu todian of ind igenou Lraditions and domestic '·a living person has blemi he ~bespeaks the Yornba tende n cy
mo rality in a ncienL He, who reponedly teamed up wi t..h LO canonize Lhe dead. Thei r code of ethics demands thaL a
Obau'ila to chall e nge Odt1duwa afte r 1.he l<mcr had usurped loss of life be mourned, regardless of a11 individual'· fo ib les
1.he 1.h rone. 112 Before being 1.ran ferred lo th e igerian Na- before death; even fonner criLics. enemiei., a nd detractors a re
tional ~1usc um in Lago ' the SlaLUe 'LOOd at the entrance o r expecled to pay the proverbial last re pccLS LO the deceased.
the Orelt'1eri: shrine a L Tfe, the spot whe re Ide na a llegedly Si mila rly, an anisl is obliged LO honor Lhe d ead wiLh a well-
turned in to ston e. ca rved memmial, an d he f'requenLly makes the subject look
The legend 1.hat the a ncient one did not die but 1.urned you nger. As Mosudi O latu nji, the famou lme ko can 'e r, told
into stones resonates in the popula r Yo ruba saring "Oj o a kt'1 Robert Farris Thompon in Ll1 e early 1960s:
la a d 'e re, enlyan ko sunwo n laaye" ( IL is cleaLh that turns a n
individual into a beau tiful sculp ture; a living per o n has If l am carving the fate of a sen ior devOLec r mu L carve
ble mishe ). 11 ~ In other word , a pe r o n 's ea rLhly exist.ence be- h im aL Lhe Lime he was in h is p rime. \>\'hy? ff I make the
gins as a piece of sculpture mo lded by Obata.Ia a nd e nds with image resem ble a n o ld man Ll1c people 11ill not like iL I
3 J4 \Kl lllll F ll N '-FPll\llH'R2001\0ll\l~L''"ll l\ l~llHK :l

20 Twin statuettes (he ibejl), Yoruba,

Nigeria, wood and me1al, h. 13!f! in ..
20th century (photo: courtesy George
Chcmechc, New York)

wi II nol be able Lo sell Lhe image. Oue can-cs as ir the) ''ere into Lhe beautiful; ..a li1·ing pe rson has blemishes." A memo-
you ng men or \\'omen LO a tuacl people. 111 ria l de Lined for the altar ma}' be criti cized while in the
wod.~hop of th e carve r. but o nce co11serr-aLed and placed o n
So it is that twiu memorials (rrl' ibeji) a re often carvPd to recall
an a ltar, il is 110 longer criLici1.ed bec.:ausc it partakes of the
people in their prime (Figs. JU, 20) , no twiLhst.anding the fan
that a good m ajority of twins died in infanry. 110 If naLurnli 111 ·acredness and ~pirimal beauty as ·ociutcd wiLh the dead. 117
(ayijom) is r equired, as in the life-si1e brass head s from lie The re<1fl er. the focus is on i1$ ritual rathe r than formal values.
(Figs. 13, 14) o r in second-burial d/u) ef'!igies (Figs. 7-10), the Jn 1he past. ma n}' Yoruba wore permanent l~1 cc marks that
anis l idealizes the porn-ail, Lransforming it imo an ,;re (sculp- iden1ifiecl them with particular families, lineages. o r subeL11-
mre) a nd e mphasizing co mposure while igno1; ng arcidema l nic group . 118 The sam e ma rks adorn Lh e faces of econd-
facial fcaLures such as scars and d eformities as~ociatcd wilh buriaJ sta LL1es. allar memorials, and ancestral m asks, thus
iwd, physical ex istence. As Rowland Ahioclun point out, -TllC' relating the living LO the d('ad and th e hLtman to the di-
d eceased person may ha\'e lost a n eye. car o r even a few vi ne .11() A~ Fra nk Wille u aptly o bse1ves, "IL is indeed o ne of
fin ger · during his life , but the [ <iho] effigy allows for a recon- L11e ~ urpri es o f living in Yorub<1land that unc docs frequenLly
s tructio n of the e parts." 11 b T hus, d eat h transforms th e ugly see people whose featur('s remind one very forcib l}' o r a
 I II t 'I• I F \ N I> I T<; \11. I \ I' II Y ~II \ L 0 1111 II. " " I II. l 1 ll \ \II. I j 15

pa rticular sc ulpturnl style, ye t the culpturcs are n ot po rtraits

of individual " but th ey a re upposed Lo look as if they mig ht
be.~ 120 Jn short. th e Yoruba style, pa rticula rly in woodcarving,
combines th e gene1;c with the specific. re la ting the individ-
ual Lo the collecti,·c, tressin g "social ide nti ty"' and there by
cpiwmizing the quest for unity unde rlying the 01110 Od1iduwrl
concept. This quest finds its most popular political exprcs-
·ion in the image of the oba (kin g), the temporal a nd : piriu1al
head of a gi\'c n community a nd a pe rsonification of its cor-
porate existence. rn 1he past, the king seldo m le ft his palace
exce pt o n special occasio ns, a nd whe n he did. h e usually
wore a beaded crown with veil th at partly n>nceale d his face
(Fig. 22). Howeve r, thi ·tradition ha:; ·ince been modified, o
tha t the king appears more freque ntly in publir today without
cio nning the crown. doing so o nly o n certain ceremo nia l
occasions. Mos t crowns have a styliLed face in the front th at
serves as the kin g's officia l face. The same face (or a simila r
face- ho uld a new king ciecicie to replace a n old crown )
identified his pred ece ors in publi c and will cio t11e same for
hi u ccessor . This face , commonly idenrified wit11
Odt'1duwa, transforms th e king into a masked figure-an icon
co1ijuring up the image o f the mythical progen iLor. fun ctio n-
in g as a pa radigm of the o neness of the king and his . ubjects,
o n the one hand. a nd of th e reigning king and the royal
dead. on th e o th e r.121

lhinra.'nite: Is Obatfil.ci a Self-Reflection of the Yomba Artist?

According Lo Yoruba cosmoloi,,ry. the ciecisio n of Ol6dt1marc
( upreme Be ing) LO create hum a ns was pro mpted by a desire
to tra nsform the primeval wildernes be low the sky into a n
o rderly estate. Huma n beings are called e111)·a11 (the s pecia lly
selected) because, as a divinati on verse p uts it. they are the 21 Image of ictena, hunter and gatekt·epc.:r, graniLc.:-gneiss,
o nes ordained '"to comey goodness·· to the wi ld e rn es be low h. -10 1h in .. ca. lllh-12th cc ntun. l..ag-os, :'\aLional Commission
the skr . 122 111 o ther words. di\'i11ity a bides in humanit:y. a nd for Mw.ct1111s and ~lo1111111ents (phoLo: author, 1995)
vice vea-sa. It i therefore not urpa-ising tha t some of the oriul
(de ities) al legedly assumed human forms in order to accom-
pany the first humans to the earth-which easily accounts f'or
I.hei r pe r o nification in brine sculptw-es a nd s pirit mcdium- de it · Obatala al ·o assumed an antl1ropomorphic form in o rder
·hip. Ogim . the iron d e ity, led t11 e way, u ing his machete to to accompany t11e fir<>t humans to t11c· eanh , \\'as t11 e archetypal
cm a p ath t11 roug h the paimevaljungle. laying the foundatio n human image a se lf ~ portrait? Or was Obatcila oiiginally a mortal
for Yo naba civi lization. 123 The popular na me Og(ml;"im\ who o nce li\'cd in a ncient lfc and was deified as an 1hi~il for his
(Ogt111 pave the way) commemorates this a rc hetypal even t, phenomenal crea tiw endo\\~nent? Or was he a fi~rinc:11t of the
e mph asizing th e impo rtance (first) of stone a nd (later) o f imagination and a sdf~reflectio n of' the Yoruba an~t? Thal
iron tools in ag1-icultu1-e. urba n pla nnin g. lumbe ring , archi- Obaul.h\ "~L" a deified rnlture hero, if not a !\elf-reflection of the
tecture. wa rfare, an d an. 1 2~ \"i'e are a lso remi nded of Og(1n 's Yoruba a ni ~ t . i · evide m in the populai Yornba saying "Bi e nl~·ati
vital contribmi o n s to the huma n image molded by Obata l ~t . ko si, o rlsa ko i'" (~o humanity, no deicy). t'.!1o In other words. t11e
d etailing the face and "cutting open"' the eyes later acti\",lled worshiped depends o n the wo rshipe r for its existence; divinities
by Esu. The resu ltam image-a "mastei-piece"'- e mbodies a are human constructs. 127 Put differently, it is hu)·rln (huma nity)
pedal iise (transfonnatory powe r), inspiiing and ustaining that visualized and a nt.h.ropomo rphiLed the drur/ (di\'init:y), si-
the creativity manifc ted in the visual a nd performing a rL~ multaneOLL~I)' i1we rting th e proce · to 1<1tionalize its 0M1 c re-

a nd e nabling the Yoruba colleclive to conti nua lly re desig n iL~ ation . This act of self-reflection and self-re-creation (il1l11ra '11ile)
e nviro nment as well as lo re-pre ·e nt itself through body consti tut es the divini ties (ons<i) into a son or supC'rh wnan
adornmena.s a nd idealized or conve ntio na li Led portraiture. Other-an ex tension of Lhc metaphvsical self-providing a basis
As one divination ve rse re marks: for invohi ng l11em in t11e e t11ic-. ae~t11e tic~. poccics. and politics
of human existence. It has re~ult ed in a co1wentio nali7ed form
If l am c rea led, l will re-create mrself of ponrniture that ea~ ily relates the ~ctr to tlle body politic,
l will observe all th e laboos called Omo Od1idururi, 1 2~ o n t11e o ne hand. and to the ~u perhu­
Having been created, l sha ll now re-c rcalc myself.' ~'' man Ot11er, venerated ai. O lodl'tmare. the im'sa (dhinities). a nd
deifiC'd ancestors, on t11e 01 her. Whet11er Ocit'tduw·.l (Lhe Yo11.1ba
Th ree maj o r questions remain, however. incc t11e a·eathit,· mythical ancestor) is an earth goddess o r a historical male fig ure
516 \RT !Il l ! I~ 111' ~1:.1' n \flH. R 21101 \ •OLLME 1 XXX ll l XLl\1 1.1 1:.R 3

22 Alnye (king) of Ode Remo in royal

regalia, Yornba, Nigeria, 1950s (photo:
counesy Minis1ry of Informa tion,
We ·cc rn Seate of igeria. lbadan,
igeria)

is not an issu e here. Much more impona m is how 1.he concep1 other ·. For the Yoruba, these two laye rs of the eye combine Lo
of a common ance tor (allijobi) has been used to create a socio- de termin e iluoran, the specular gaze of a n individual. T he
political framework and a mode of portraiture in which myth stress on t11e root verb, wrJ (to look a l ), clearly shows Lh a t
and reality, word and image, the human and di,foe are inoi- <tworan (portrai t o r picture) is a «lure" fo r the gaze-to
catelyjoined to forge a Yoruba iden tity out or p1-eviously dive1. e, borrow J acques Laca n 's te rn1. 129 As no ted earlie r, the term
even if related, groups. riworrin i a contraction of' a ( that which ), wo (to look a t), a nd
rrintf (to recall [the s u~jectJ), a lluding both lO th e capacity or
iworan: Portraiture, Spectacle, and the Dialectics of a represen tation to recall its referent and to an artist's p re-
Looking limi mll)' contemplation (ci-wo) of t11e raw material and t11 e
ince the face is the seat of' the eyes (ojii), no discussion of pic1orial memory (irtintf) involved in visuali zi ng and objecti-
liwomn (representation), especialJy portra iwre, would be fying the fo rm. As Lacan has po inted out, the act of looking
com ple te without rela ting i1 to t'woran, the acLof looking a nd is influenced by a host o f factor-, such as desire, mood,
being looked a1, 01.herni ·c known as the gaze. To begin wi1.h , knowledge, cultural milie u, a nd individ ual whim a nd ca-
the Yontba call the eyeba ll r1yin ojtl, a re fractive "egg" e mpow- pri ce , a nd it is a reciprocal process as well. What we see
er ed by cisP (mediated by Esu), e nabling an individual Lo see (animate or inanimate) also "secs" us a nd h a~ a particular way
(rfran). As with other aspects ofYoruba culwre. th e eyeball is of relating to our eyes. 1:.1o This illusio n i most striking in
thought LO have two aspects. a n o ute r laye1· calle d 0)11 Odt• dworan (especiallr a portrait), which stares back at t11 e awomn
(li1.erally, exte rn al eye) o r 0)1/ llisan (literally, naked e c) , (spectator), wruing him o r he r into a n iran (spectacle), if' n ot
which has to do with n ormal, quo tidian vision, a nd an inner anothe r picture (fhNi rcin). 1:11 T he fear t11 a t a viewer may sub-
one called ojii init (literal!)', internal eye) o r ojuokim (li tendly. j ectively read imo a poru,ait's gaze wha t was n ot inte nded by
mind's ere). The laner is associated wi th meniory, inte ntion , th e artist or the subject may very well be one of 1he reasons
intuition, insight, thinking, imagi nation, uitical analy is, vi- why many Yo ruba in the past (especiall y t11e rich and privi-
sual cognition , dreams, tra nces, prophecy, hypnoti ·m, empa- leged) refrained from having the mselves po rtrnyed na wral-
thy, te le pathy, di\inalion, h<>ali ng, benc\'Ole nce, malevo- isticallr or in a mann e r that may trigger j ealo usy in th e
le n ce, extrasensory pe rception , and witch craft. among haw-nots a11d dwon aye (th e e\il-mincled o nes). A divination
 Ill" ,~. u .\ND llS Mlr\1'11'\I C: \I Olll~R IN YORl llA \Rr 517

ver C' sums up the muwal u -picion associated wi th L11e gaze indoor sh.-ine, te nd to p lace the figures at a considerable
in the following man ner: re move fro m the worldly, creating an illusion of an othe r-
worldly space into wh ic h a beholder gazes in awe of th e
You are looking at me; 1 am looki ng at rou. su bli me (Fig. 23). 137 v\/iL11 p rot niding eye a nd looking like
Who has something up his/ he r sleeve between the two of ex0<1te rresuiaJ beings, L11e figures (especially those wiL11 well-
us? 132 definecl pupils) return the '~ewer's gaLe o fixedly as ir seeing
beyond the visible o r reading L11e viewer's rn in d. In 1.he scopic
ome may resent how a ponrai t seem · to snub th e m; o th ers e ncounter (and fro m the au thor's pe rso nal experience) one
may be frusu·ated by some thi ng they 5ee about themselves in soon begins to idemify with, 01· see oneself in the fig-
that portrait-some thing they subconsciously wa nt to be bu t, ures-not necessa1ilr in the Lacanian sen e ofa m in·or image
som e how, canno t be. lt is as though L11c ac hi eveme n ts of on e in wh ich the self is a lienated 13i1 but, ra Ll1er, in a fu turistic
person have hindered th e p rogre ·s of anoth er. sense (as the figures a re not mimetic) of what this mortal self
It h ould be pointed om. h owever, that naturalistic effigies sha ll eventually and in c\~ tab l y become: an ere (sculp w re).
of the dead are not treated with the sam e suspicio n , being T his calls w mind, once again, that popular saying •·1t is deat11
primarily inten ded to ma rk the ir last physical, even if sym- that turns an individual imo a beautiful scul ptu re .... "Some
bolic, a ppearnnce a mong the li,~ ng. The pop ular sayi ng "Q k(1 altar figu res (especially L110se without clearly defi ned eyes)
0161110 ki I si'111 gbagbe'· (Those sunfred by childre n do no t seem to look inward. as if in a re,·erie, or as if med itati ng 0 11
sleep fo rgetfully) 1 3 ~ explains why mo t ·econd-burial por- the fate of h uma ni ty. 13u
tra its have th eir eyes wide open (Figs. 7-12). It is a11 appeal to The Yoruba ambivalence towa rd the gaze is sum med u p in
the depa rt ed to remain vigi lant in th e Afterlife, p rotec ti ng the popular phrase "Ejeji la {1 1110 eniyan; bf 0 ba SC yinyi n , a
the interests o f th eir l h~ n g re lations a11d inte rceding wirh the se eebu" {We look a t a person in one of two ways: eiLher to
deities o n th eir behalf. 1"l i When installed indoors, seated on commend or to cond em n ) . 110 The positive aspect, which
a stool, a seco nd-bu1i.al c!"flgy receives many saluta tio ns, be- e licits comm endatio n (1)in), has to do with the aclii,n (plea-
coming apl!wo (a foc us o f the gaze) a nd recal ling the p hrase sures or benefits) clc1ived from looking or bei ng admired.
"It is death that turns an indi~dua l into a beamiful ·culplu re: What attracts and nourishes the eyes (ojti) is the nva (beauty),
a livi ng per on has ble mishes."" 135 Some relations wou ld look lsona (creati~ty). or rir<i (tour de force) man ifes ted in a given
at the effigy su·aigh L in the eyes while chm1 ting L11e 01ilii spectacle, porLrait, or a work of a rt in general. Any striki ng
(eulogy) or the deceased, imploring its soul not lO stay too evidence of the beautiful o r the vinuosic is aid to fa oju in6ra
long in L11e Afte rl ife before reincarnating as a newborn baby. (magnetize the eyes), bti ojit mu (fit the eyes), becoming
Fo rmer peers may talk to th e image, calling the deceased b)' dwowo-lun-wo (that which compels repeated gaze) or awomrt-
name and pledging to assist in comple ting any unfinished ldlo {tha t which moors the gaze). 111 The gen uine o r a pre-
proj ect or in en u riug that the todd lers left beh ind d o not cious object. is called oj1IMwo (literally, the eye have money),
stLITer. [n 1967, at the seco nd-burial ce re mo ny (i/)(ide) of a implyi ng that the object is so u n ique that '·L11e eyes can spend
hu n t.er at Ho, near Abc<lku ta, I wi tnessed what th e Yo ruba a ny amount to look at it.'" An image is designated iiwoya11u
would call awos11nliun, L11at is. '" look a nd Cl]'.,. T he effigy had {literally, that which causes the viewer to gape) if it. man ifests
j u t been d eli,·ered to th e fa mily b)' L11e carver and was taken such an incredibly h igh anistic ski ll a to suggest the use of
LO the backyard of the ho u e fo r a cl re s rehearsal before Lhe occult power . Consequen tly, L11e Yoruba use the ame term,
real ceremo ny began in the evening. It was re ndered in th e (itin (de licious), f"or a palatable meal and a memo rable spec-
sa me stvle as that of Chief Aniwe (Figs. 11 , 12) , except th a t it tacle, bo L11 arousi ng a de ire for more. In the words or a
had th ree ,·enical marks (/Hile) o n the c heeks. Placed against Yo ru ba poet:
the wa ll, the efllgy was fitted wi th a cotton smock (diinsflif) and
a p ouchlike hunte r's cap (rlcliro). T h e n . som e people kn e lt What do we call food for the eyes?
down and prayed in front of it. R11t th e child ren of the V\'hat p lea cs the eyes as pre pa red yam flour satisfies the
deceased j ust stared peechlesslv at th e effigy, unable to stomach?
control the tears welling up in the ir eyes and running down T he eyes have no food othe r tha n a ~pectacle ....
L1 1e ir chee ks. For th e m, it was a ·ad re min der of a physical :-lever will the eyes fa il to greet the beau tiful one;
selt~once full of life, e ne rgy, and e n L11 u iasm-n ow gone e\'er will the eyes fail to look u pon one-as-elegant-as-a-
ii-re uie,'ably ,.,~th the past, to be encountered in an imma te- kob-antclope.
rial fo nn o nly in drea m ~, visio ns, a nd flashes of m emo ry, "Eg11ngu n masks are performing in the marke t; let us go
accordi ng to the dirge cited ea rlier. i :{t\ a nd watc h them."
Wh ereas most second-burial figu res are life- i,:c and i11- lt i because we want to feed the cyes. 112
tendcd for public a nd open-air di play, a good majority of the
alta r figures a re sma lle r in scale, be ing design ed to fi t i11to Thus, for the Yo ru ba, a ve1·hal descriptio n . howeve r ,1vid , can
private, prosccni umlike ind oor spaces or sma ll roo ms se n1ng never match a d irect obsc1v,1tion. This is illusu·ated by t11e
as sites fo r offering periodic prayers and acrilices to the popular saying "irohin ko t6 afojub:'t"' (Listening to a rcpon is
deities o r ance tral dead . He rc the \iew or the figu re is not the same thing as bei ng a n eye\\~ tn css). T he tcrn1 riworen'ill
restricted to a handful of people such as th e p.-ie ·t in c ha rge (look and laugh) often n·fe1 to a funny-loo king image or a
or th e owner of a give n altar and th ose seeki11g spi1·itual ati rical pcrlo m1ancc, although it may also be appl ied to a
assistance. 1 ont>th ele s, the dim in u tive and chemaliLed poorly executed po1trait t11at expo-es L11e subject to public
fo rms of most altar figures, barely ,;sible in the dimn ess o f a n dcri ion . Any image or pcctacle (such as a performance by
518 \RT BlL L Fl l \/ SEP l t~llHR 21101 \Ol ll\!f LXXXll l NL M ll tR 'I

23 Agba ndada shrine with altar

figures and twin Slallle ttes. Yoruba.
ilo hi1, i\'ige1ia (photo: cop right 1954
Ulli Beier)

Celede masks) lhal em ertains and educales a l the same time is faces:·•"' Since on ly a fe w achieve s uch a tanis, most peop le
called rliu0k6gbri11 (look and learn ). T he Lenn awodunmi (look find solace in th e po sibiliLy of o btaining the spiritual be n efi ts
and fe el the sweet11ess in th e stomach), o n the olher hand, o r th e gaze from O l6dl1ma re (Supreme Be ing) aud the orlsri
refe rs to a specu1clc o r image thaL fills on e with j oy. Yemoja, a (d e ities). As a maucr of fact, th e rout verb wo (to gate o r loo k
fertility godde and the source o f all waLers, i often called a l) also means to nurture, to look afte r, o r to cu re, 1·15 as
Awo)l6 (liLerally, th e sight lhat fills Lhe swmach ) because of tJ1e evide nt in th e praye r fo r a ne wbo rn c hild, "0 16 duma re a
pop ular belief tJmt looking at her altar figure or in lo a pol of woo" (May the Supreme Be ing loo k at or afLer iL). In this
sacred wa Ler wiLh pe bble · from me Og\111 Ri,·er (which is sacred com exl, wo (look a t o r afte r) is syn o n 111o us with ttiju (liLe r-
lo he r) fills her de\'otees· wo mb wi.tJ1 children. 1 4-~ a Uy. brin g up unde r th e eres), meaning to take care o r. A
So far, we have dealt wiLl1 L11e be n e fi L~ of lo o kin g. Whal are medi ca l facil ity is fie itojit (lite rally, a house for health care).
L11e p()s ilive sides of bei ng looked a t, d irectly, o r indirectly A successfu l treatme nt is iW<isiin, a co ntraclion of i' (aCl of ) , wo
thro ug h o ne's po rtrail? Complime nts (1)in) fro m admire rs (bei ng gazed a t), a nd san (be cured ). o r iwoye, tha l is, i (act
aboul o ne·s physical e ndowme nl, c harac le r. taste , dress, o r of), wo (be ing gazed a l), a nd )'e (be saved). In preventive
achievemen ts boosl o ne·s ego a nd confide nce a nd m ay also medi cine, as me nd o ned ea rli e r, th e po rtra it of a n individual
faci liwte socia l 111obility wil11in o ne's co mmuni ty. O ne be- may be ke pt in a shrin e lO immunize the subject fro m infec-
comes a Kbajtimo, th e Yo ruba Le nn fo r a celebri ty, wh ich tio us diseases o r ~orce 1)'. Now a nd the n , a woma n who con-
li Lerally means "someo ne known LO n\'O hundred [manyl ceived and had a child after o ffe ring sacrifi ce · to a n a nce to r
 lll t. ~FU A:\ll 1rs ~IFT\ 1'1"~1 ('\I () lll F. R 11' 'ORI IJA .\RI 5 19

or a particular d e ity may return to its shrine to dcpo it a

votive m other a nd child figme portraying he rself and th e
c hi ld . 111' That uch portrai ts arc under the protective gaze of
the ancestors or orisii i o bvio us i11 popular Yoruba name like
6gun wo6 (Iro n deity, look af"lcr Lhis [c hild]) and Sang6-
h~uniwo6 (Thunder deit)'· he lp me to look after this [child]).
The fo llowing invoca tion to Ira (the di,~nation deity) ~ h e el s
more light on this phe nomeno n :

lfa, fix your eyes upon me a nd look at me we ll

It is whe n you fix your eyes upon one that he is ri ch ;
It is wh e n )'OU fix your eres upon one tJ1at he pro pe r ·. 117

This t}Ve of gaze is called oju rerP (the be nevolent eye) o r· oj1i
d{imi (th e m e rciful eye) . 1'18 It follows, therefore, that th e
Yo niba a ltar, called ojuho (lite rally, face of th e wor biped ),
fun ctions as a kind of mask Lhat facilii.ates ifoj1/koju, n amely, "a
face-to-face communio n" between th e wo rshiper and the wor-
hiped, enablin g the lauer to appreciate tJ1 e miki (e ulogy)
rendered in its honor. 1 I!• lt is worth no ting tJ1a t the most
sac red symbol or a de ity-an organic substan ce or a collec- 24 lfa dh-inati on bowl (lgMt lfri), Yoniba, Nigeria, wood,
tion of c harms-is u ually concealed in ide a wooden bowl h . 12 in. (photo: Don Cole, UCLA Fowler Museum of
with a face carved o n it to provide an ocular ou tJe t for its Cultur.il I listory)
content (Fig. 24). Such a face also implicates Esl1, th e agen t
of sight and receiver an d couri er· of all the ~ac ri fi cc~ oCTered
l O a deity. l!:.O
th e forbidden will see th e fearful) . In othe r word~. delightful
This brings 1is to Lhe consequences of being looked at in a as looking mar be on certai n occasio ns, it cou ld be fra11ghl
negative manner. To begin wi th, any u-a.nsgre. sion of tJ1e social, wi th da nger al times. This is hecau c l')'hl ojil. the refractive
moral, or clre code often attracts frowns (ibojUje). uncompli- "egg·· called the eyeball, could weaken or h e ex tinguished
men ta1y re marks (1'ebti), <md such actions as may affect 011e's like a lamp if ex posed lo the sig ht or the "forbidden ," which,
reputation or e<U"eer. However. Lhe gaze most feared by th e in Yoruba thought. may range from g ho t~ to potent channs
Yoruba is tha t of a n iijP (a woman wi1.h mystical power ") or an oso and images. Such phe nome na arc called aw~frijii (li terallr,
(h er male counte rpart), whose oj1i okrin (mind's e)re) is d eeme d look and be bli nded ) or inuo/11/ (literally, look a nd die),
LO ha,·e bolh beneficent a nd malcfic.:e11t aspect~- Its maleficent depending o n the my tical power-~ atu·i buted to th e m. 1:' 1
<L~pec l, called qj1i or6 (poisonou eye) or ojii bunikii (evil eye) Only initiates or tJ1 0 e whose eye a rc du1a lly protected may
generates-according to popula r belief:__enigmatic rays that safe])' look. The images in this category de rive the ir mystique
penetrate 1he victim 's body, ei ther directly o r tJ1rough a pon ra it, partJy from folklore a nd pa rtJy from the fact that thev a rc
causing high blood pr·essure, menta l derangement, malignant frequently CO\'ere d up wh en d isplayed in broad daylight. for
sores a nd tumors, paralysis of th e limbs. infc rtili t)• in me n and example. be fo re be ing ta ken ou t of the shrine fo r a pecial
wom e n. epileptic seizures. and de bilita ting disease ·, amo ng ce re mony in Lhe forest, the stone images of the crea ti,icy
o the r e ffect~. Anyone who die- sudde nly after compla ining or deitr Obatala (righ t) a nd his con o n Ye moo (left) a re
seeing s1range faces in dreams is uspectcd or be in g a victim wrapped in white cloth ( Fig. 25). T ra ditio n re quires tha t the
of riwo/H1 (literally, kill er gaze). T h is term is a lso used sarcas- bearers o f th e images c ha m a special incantation, whic h, a ·
tically for a n incompeten t doctor (known fo r wro ng diag- Phillips Stevens puL~ it, "will ca u e 1he images to become
nose ) a nd whose patie nts arc mo re like ly LO d ie than sunri\·e light.e r and thei r bearers more comfo rtable. Tf the incam a-
the ir illnes es. 1 ' '1 tion is not su ng with a "~ II , or if it i~ 11eglectcd entire!)', the
beare r o f the image:, will 1ire a nd become wcak.".i:;::; Con-
Afwo6!: The Politics of Image Concealment scious o f the o nlooker , wh o kee p a safe distance, the beare rs
T he e mphasis on observable represe n tatio n 111 the curren t often turn the occa.~io n into a pe rforma nce, u ing cadence
di coursc of tJ1 e gaze tends to ig no re a prac tice commo n in a nd body languagc w dramatize the sac rednes and he avi ness
sub-Sa haran Africa where by images are deliberately co n- or tJ1e wrappeci images.
cealed LO stres th eir o ntological signifi can ce or "affecting \Vhen ever a n exce ption a lly potent image is to be exposed
pre ·cnce." 1::;2 For in tancc, among the Baul e o f Co te d "h"oire, in a public ri tua l that takes p lace mostly at n ighl, a c.:ulicw is
as usan Vogel ha o bse rved, ··the act of looking a t a work o r usually in fo rce. During th e e vent a voice wa rns intcrmit-
an, 0 1- at spirituall}' significant objects. i fo r Lhe most pan le ntly. "Do n't look at it! [A/11106! r:
"You see it, you die! [ Wori.
pri,ileged and potentia lly dan gerous . ... The power a nd Wok1U]": "Don 't look a t it! [Aiwori!]." Thi is partic ularly the
cla nger of loo king lie i11 a belief tha t o~jects a rc pote n t, case with the Agan , a mytho logi.c al be ing that comes ou t 0 11
capable of polluting th ose who see the m.""":?! The Yo ruba the eve of the an nua l festiva l o r masks (Od!111 Egu ng(111 )
have a similar- concept, as expressed in the popular adm oni- honoring the "Li,•ing Dead ... T he Agan image (sometimes
tion ··Eni to ba wo iwokuwo , y6 ri irfk(rri" (Whoeve r loo ks a t repre. en tcd b)' a bundle of charm~ , a ca n ing, a maske d
520 \RT lll;L l. Fl'I" SFPH' MllFR 21101 l()LL:~IF l.XXXlll N lMIHK I

My escon to Otit had sp ent the nig ht with hi kinsme n,

shut in ano t·h e r ho use, a nd he Lold me the next d ay tha t
they had a ll been very much afraid , fo r they be lieved tha t
Agan an d ~lariwo had m agic whi ch e nableldJ the m Lo
" ·cc" a n<l aLLack a nyon e they wa m ed , wh e rever he was
hidd en in a ho use. On lhe last night of w e fe tival, there
is aga in a te rrifying in cur!'io n , unde r the same co nditions,
with people locke d in th eir houses with lig hts ex tin-
g uished . This visi ta tio n is of' Aram a. The Ara llla is said to
be accom panied by Lh e voice o f many animals and birds,
an d th e so und of ''wi tchcraft," made will1 a va ri ety or
voice-di guise rs. 119

It is impo n am h e re LO draw a ttentio n to th e calcula ted use

of ·oun cl effects a nd pic tu resque language against Lhe dark-
ne ·s or ilie night , LO p roj ect a urreal vision of the unseeable
while, a t tJ1 e sa me time , de nyi ng th e people co n fin ed indoo rs
access Lo its ma te rial reprcse ntalio n. 1w The ultimate aim is LO
co ntrol vis ual be haYior a nd instill a re,•erentia l fea r o f tJ1e
sacrc:d so com plex tJ1a t the mere realizati on that o ne has seen
Lh e forbidd e n may prccipi ta le the p ych osomatic complica-
tions po pula rly assoc ia te d '~ w awrifoj1i (look a nd he blinded )
o r rlwiihu (look a nd di e) .

New Forms, Old Values: Contemporary Developments

25 acred images of crea th~L}' deity O ba tala (right} a nd his
wife Ycmo6 (left), wrnppcd in white cloth to shield the m from Si nce the turn o f the twe ntie th centut) ', Yo ruba land, like
public g-azc: sitting behind the images is Oba lale , the chief othe r parts o f Afr ica, has bee n witness ing unprecede llled
priest of Oba ta la, lte (pho to: a utho r, 1973) r ulLUr.:t l, po litical, a nd econ omic tra nsform a tio ns <lue LO th e
impact of Weste rn educa tio n , mod f' rn techno logy, a nd in-
crea sing urba11izatio n. Yer man)' Yo ruba have no LLOta lly aban-
do ned th eir ancient customs. Mas couvcr io n to 1·la m a nd
fi gu re, o r spirit me dium ) is e nvelo ped in da r kne sa nd close) C h ristian ity, b olh of which associa te traditio na l sculpu1re
g uarded by a ttcnda m s ho lding whips. As the processio n a p- wiLh paganism , has led some Yo ruba to ad opt new forms as
proaches a n area, the reside nts arc cauti o ned LO put o ut a ll camo uflage in o rde r to continue witJ1 w ose ind igen o us val-
Lh e light5 within and o utside their ho uses to e nsu re to ta l ues LO which th ey a re st.ill em o Lio nall y a ttached . While mod-
darkn ess. Now and ll1en , an eeri e voice cu ts thro ug h w e e m pho Logra ph y has e ncouraged a good majuricy lo reco rd
n ight, fo llowed by a cho ru · proclaiming the Agan 's su pernat- important eve nL~ in th e ir lives throug h individual a nd famil y
ura l powe r. For example: po nrai t~. t11 e fear lingers th at a prillled image is suscep tible
LO ·ympa w etic magic. H e nce, in d ividuals keep th eir photo-
Agan 's an11s a re sma lle r tha n th e sa nd fl "s graph a lbums in a sec ure place to preveuL tJ1 em fro m falling
Its tail i · n o t as big as ll ie am ·s in to th e wro ng hands. Some Yo ruba herbalists ach~ e tJ1a t one
Yet 1,460 me n lifte d Aga n s ho uld h o ld on e's brea th whil e posing for a ph oLOgTaph to
And co uld no t lil't it LO knee levcl. 151; immuni ze w e image agains t sorcery. Pho togra phs no w play
maj or roles in a num be r of public and private cere mo n ies,
One divina tio n verse hin t~ a t th e dire conseque nces of spying
either a lo ne o r in conjunctio n wi th sc11lpLUres carved in the
o n the Agan:
tradilio nal ~ t y l e.
Do no t set your eyes o n me T he image: o n th e la p o f the sealed woma n in Fig ure 26
N o 011c looks a t the Oro m bo 1m (carved by Ajayi Ibuke in 1970) represe nts th e c urre n t king or
Lf th e Agan comes o ut in d aytime O y6. Alaafiu O ba La midi Adeyem i II , who is re quired to be
Trees will fall upo n trees; palms will fall u pon o ne a no the r pre ·e nt, in spirit bu t n o t in person , a l ce r tajn public ceremo-
Fo rests will be razed LO the grou n<l nies int.e nd ed LO promo te the social and spiritua l we ll-be in g
The sm~,mn a h will burn 0 111 co mple te ly of his su~jects. I too k th is picture in Oyo in 1972 at th e g ra nd
This i · wha t the lfa oracle predicted for Mafojt'.1kanmi fina le of th e annua l fes1iva l in ho no r o f Sang6. one of the
lD o-Not-Se t-Yo ur-Eyes-on-M e 1 a ncie nt kings o r Old Oy6 who was d eified and is now associ-
P o pularly call ed Ag-,rn. 1"11 a ted with thu nde r power ( Fig. 18). T he ca1vcd image has a
pho tograph of O ba Adeyem i a uache<l LO stress his liminal
Accordin g to Pe ter Mo n o11-Willia ms, a BiiLish amh ropo lo- rol e as a li vi ng re present a tive of Sang6 o n eart l1. 1t" All tJ1e
g isLwho did fi eldwo rk in Yo ruba la nd in the 1950s, Lh e Agan impo rtant gu ests arriving at the ven11e bowed be fore th e
was acco mpan ied by <>Lh e r "unl ooka blc" beings eluti ng the "photo-sculptu ra l" image o f Oba Adeyemi. a nd d uring the
Eg (111gli n festi,r.:11 a l Ota: cere mony it was tJte foc us o r a u c ntio n . The drumme rs, da nc-
 l i l t. ~ l· I F \C\D I T\ M ~I \1'11\ S I C\I 0 111 ~. R IN YORL LI\ \RI 52 1

crs. a nd Sang6-possc -sion pricsLS pe1formcd bdi.>re it most of

th e Lime. During Lhe ime rva ls, praise inge rs e ntered th e
pe rfo rmance a re na. moving hack and fo rth in fro nt of t.he
image a nd chanting the king's orfhi (eulogy). The audience
responded inte nniucntly with "K:i-bi-ye-si!" ( Lo ng live the
king!). At the encl of the ceremony, th e chief" posses ion
priest faced the image. as if it were th e kin g himself, a nd
wished him good health, long life, a nd the con t.inued blessing
of an g6. In fact., whe n not in use. thi · ca rYed portrnit is usu-
all y kep t inside Lhe a ng6 Le m pie in Lhe Ko·o area of LOwn,
an act tha t me ta phorically place the kin g (O ba Adcyemi )
under th e divin e and proteCLive gaze of Sa ng6.
Enlarged p hot0graphs a re n ow a popular s ubstitute for
carYed effig ies in ·econrl-buiial ceremonie , bei ng bu1;ed in
the ame ma nn e r as the e11igies. 162 In some cases, a seco nd-
burial mem o rial for a hunter (i/1(11fr) may be no more tl1;111 an
assemblage of flintlocks, huntin g dress, hat. a nd charms. in
front or whic h is di played a phowgra ph of the decea~e d.
Those who ca n afford Lhe expenses now com mission nal.urnl- 27 Girl (rigln) wears male dress (left) 10 represent her
istic, Western-type memorials in ceme nt. stone, 0 1- marbl e in deceased JWin brother, gelatin silver print, ila 6rang(111.
hon o r of deceased parents. 1i;:i Yet, in time o f crisis, the ·e Yoruba, 1975. T ucson , Ccm cr fo r Creative Photograph)'· The
Universil)' of Ariz.ona (pho to: cOp)'ligh1 David Sprague)
memo rials o fte n do uble as shrines for c la nde ·tine riwals
enlisting U1e spit;tua) a id o f Lhe dead.
There is a peculiar use o f phoLOgraphy i11 twin l"ituals that
d e nies th e specificii:y o f its na LUralism in o rder to emphasize raphcr ~ometimes ex poses Lhe image of the stuvi\i ng twin
1h e oneness in the twont'SS of twins. For instance. if" one of tl1 e twi ce o n the sam e paper, so that th e living and the dead
pair should die witl10ut leaving behind a phowgraphic im- (re presented by the living) appear to be sitting side by side in
age, the surviving twin is phowgraph ed in the dress of the Lhe print. But if tl1c twins are o f Lhe opposite sex, the surviv-
deceased. becoming its proxy in the phowgraph , whether o r i11g twin i · phot0graphcd in a ma le dress and th e n in a
no t they arc identi cal. Thi pho tographic image the1-eaf te r fe ma le' . The two images are eventua lly combine d in th e
·erves as a mean · or mainiaining the t\vins ' wgeLhe rnc s in final p1-i11t as iI th e Lwins had posed togeLher ( Fig. 27) . 1ir1
life and clcaLh . tr tl1e twins a re of Lhe same sex, Lhe photog- Such photographs a re 1hought to have spirin1al power a nd
a re some times placed i11 shrines, receiving offe rings of food
like tlw carved tatucucs. )(;;;As Marilyn Ho ulberg ob erved in
th e field, "The life of the univor is said to depend on Lhe
existence and veneration of the photograph, jusl as it would
be in the case ofa wood image." 1rn; Through this phoLo mon-
tage tec hnique, conte111pora111 Yoruba phowgra phers pe rpet-
uate o ld values in new fonn , especia lly tl1e tradit.ion of
dee mphasi7ing indi\idual ide ntily for a collective one. which ,
in tJ1 e Ca e o r twins. a ffirms their ~(l/ill'lleSS.
In sum , despite Lhe impact ofWcs1ern aesthe ti cs a nd mod-
e rn te cl111ology o n the Yoruba. they have not comple tely
given up their be lief in 1hc ontological, mne mo ni c. and riLual
ignificance o f awor<in (repre e ntation). An in th e traditional
sLyles contin ue Lo be made, th oug h it is gradually being
modified lo reflect lit e dynamics of c hange. Natura listic po r-
traits or living persons (in oil painting and o the r media) a re
now a commonplace in Yorubala nd , clue. in pan, to a grow-
ing acceptance of tl1e d ocume ntaq' fun ction o f mode rn pho-
tography a nd , in part, to a signiflcam de cline in th e fear of
sorcery, especially among Lhe elites in the urban areas. Some-
time , as we have . ccn in twin me morials, tl1e p hysical like-
ness inhere nt in photogra phy Ill a)' be ig no red LO ma ke it
serve a conceptual and ritual function, so tl1at the same fo nn
may be duplica ted to rep rese nl the self an d iLS metaphy ical
Other. Jn sho rt, a sLrong belief in an interface of the visible
26 Wo man canying image (ca1ved by AJ~ri lbuke of Oy6},
and im~sibl e, Lhe ta ngible and intan gible. th e known and
with photograph auached, or 1\ l<itijm of Oyo, Oba Lamidi unknown makes it evide nt thaL tl1e art of looking and eeing
Adeyemi TT (photo: author, 1972) in Yoruba culwre is muc h mo re Lha n a pe rce ption of obj ects
:)22 ARI J\l ' ll lllN S H·J~\11\l'R 21101 \0 1 l'~IF. I X'\X lll '\l'\llll R 3

by use of the eyes. IL is a social experience as well, in volvi ng, 2. Fo1 example, ri111n menu> pln1 r; riw1i, fishing ne1.: and 111110. 'enecy.
:~. SC'C' also .·I 1Jicli1m111)• nJ llw l'u111bfl l.flll/.,'1.ltllfl' (Lngos: Oxfo1cl l lni1t•1'>it)
on the one hand, a de licate balance of culturally d eLermi ned Pres<. l9t;$); a11rl R. C. Abrnh<1m. /)fr/im1111)' of ,\/odrm l'umbn (l.o n rlon: L'ni-
m o d es of perc:ci,·ing and imerpre Li ng rea lity and, on the \ersil\ o l l.011d<m Pn:ss. 19.)8).
o ther, individual react.ions LO specific im age and spectacles. ·I. Richa1cl Brillia111, /'ur1m111m• (Cambiidg<'. ~las,: l-la.-.-ard U11i1cr>it' P res~.
1991 ). I I.
:i. Se<' Sa11111cljohn,on , Tlw l/1stm1' ri) 1111' 1'0111/111,,fiom //w Earfi1·•t '/11111•' In lh~
/3eg,,mi111' ri) "" llrifi.,ft Pm11•f'l11mt1•1 ( Lagos: Church ~ li s.,i om11 y Socicl)'· 1\121):
Sallllri 0. lliobaku, eel. , SMm'I'} ~f l'ombf/ lli.11i11y (Oxford : Cl,11 c11don l'ress.
Babatwid<' Lawal is j1rnjPssor of art history. Vilginia Commonweolth
1973); Wanclc Abimhola, ed., l im1/m Om/ 'J'mditirm ( lie-I f(>. Nigclia: Ot'pan-
University. Jle Jun /JUblishPd Pxte11sively on traditio11al and co11/Pm- 111cm of African Langnagt» and Litcra111r<"•. l'nivcrsit\ of lfe. 1975): Tovin
j1orary African m1, most wcently The Gcledc pcctacle: An , Faiola, <'d.. fom/111 l/l\/t1n11gmph) (Madison. Wi,.: U11i,·ersi11 of Wisconsin
l're>s. 1991 ): and Abioclun e1 al. In his <'Xl<'nshr su1ch of oral u11dil.ion in
Gender, and Social H a m 10 11 )' in a n African Culture ( 1996). A Africa a11d oilwr pans of 1he wurld. J a11 \ 'nnsina ha' de1;io11stra1ed 1hat. while
1ww book, ango: Art , Spir it Med iumship, and Thunder Powe r 1he)' mav not be :is reliahl<" '" wri11en docume11ta1inn, oral tradi1iom "cmbodv
a message trorn thc pasr" and <o can conLribu1e m11d1 10 1hc rcco11strnc1ion
in Yoruba Cu lture, is 11Paring rompletion [Dej1m·t111ent of Art of the past. prnvidcd tha1 1h1"1 arc user! wi1h caution and cn11(")a1cd wi1h
llistory, School of lite ArL5, \lirgiuia Commonwealth Universif)', PO indt:pc11rl!'nl c>\idcncc. Sec \ ':rnsina, Om/ 'J md11im1 (IJ Hi<llll)' (1'lacli•o11. Wis.:
Box 8-130-16, Richmond, Ya. 23284-3046. blawal@titan.vcu.Pd11]. l.inin•rsil) of Wisconsin Press, 19113); and idem, . \1/ Hi<IO>\' in .\fnrfl ( London:
Longma11. l\181).
6. TI1e ci1y', name lie is an ahh1 l'viaLion of 110-llC, meaning "1 he place fro m
whe1c dvilization ·pread 10 odw1 lamb." I h r rwo name..< a11" "'"d i11tcr-
cha11gc;iblv in the literature o n Yoniba an. For t·onsis1ency. I 1m" lfi· 1hrnugh-
Frequently Cited Sou rces <)11l 1hi5 :11 tidt·. except in quo1crl passages a11d bibliographic rcfcrrnr<'•.
7. ~011. ith>tanding the fact 1hat thry spoke differcm dialcc1s of 1hr •ame
languagt>. eac.h ki11gdom was i11dcpenrlcn1 of 1he other and identified hy a
Ahinrl11n, Ro\\laml. "A Rernmidcra1ion of the Fu nction of Ako. Second B11ti:tl di>ti11r1 name. The tenn Yoruba fonnerlv applif'd oulv lo the (),·6 subgroup.
EIIiro· of C'>wo," :lf1iw• .fmm1n/ 11f 1/11 /111mu11i1111nl . \fnmn liB/1/11/r -16. no. I J-lm,·<·,cr, afler the Biiti>h colonir~1tion of Nig1?1ia i11 the 19th CC'llllll"\. Lhe
(1976): ·1-20. 1c.·n11 " "-IS user! 10 catcgo1iLc ;ill 1he ki11gdo1m •peaking the " ' me languagf' a•
Abiod11 11 , Rowln11d , l l e nryj. Dl'cwa l, :111d.Jo hn Pe111bf' r1011 Ill, eds.. 1/w l'onilia thf.' <'>)•C>. For" good in 1roduction 10 1hf' hi>101'\ and n 1lu1re of the \'oruha, •<'<'
i\rli.<I: Nrw Tl11'llttliral 1'1•r<perlivrl 011 Afaimn !l it.' (\\'a,hingw11. D.C.: Smith- C.. J. Afolabi Ojo. l'or11bt1 C11l/t1rP: A (;,.ogmlJlural Ana/)'si.< (London: Uni\'crsit)
sonian Insti tution Pres.<>. 199.J). ofl.ondnn l'rt••s. 1966): .ind Rohen S. Smi1h. l\1111<doms of thr l ornba. 3d ed.
Akiruoghin. h .iac A .. ed . n,_ (.'111dlr of a Rna: I.Ji' /111111 1h1• u,,,iwmg In l'NJIJ (.M:1di,on. \\'i•.: L' 11in·r;i1" of \\'isconsin Pre'>. 1988). For :1 compreh('nsh·c
(Ponharro11rt, Nigciia: Sunra). 1!¥.l~). 5111"<'1' ofYoruha art,~<'<' Robcn F. Thompson. lllttrk r.i)f/.i rmd l\i11g>. l'or11/Jn /\11
al ( '..(:. l..A . (Los Angeles: L:11iversitv of California Pr<:ss. 1971 ): and Drc\\"dl et
Beier, Ulli. l'nntlm l'tH'lry: /\n Anlholog) 1![ Trr11/i1w111d l'tH'll<' (C~ 111bridg-e: C;1111-
;ii.
b1idge v 11iv<'l'•i1v Pl'c~>, 1970).
Rl icr. Suza111w, "Kings. CroM1s, :incl Righi> ofS11ccc·ssion: Ob:\1(1!011 Ans at II'~
H.J. 0111 111idc Lucas, '/Jw Rr•ligum of 111,. l'oru/1111 (L1gos: Ch 111 r li ~lissio 11 a ry
'ocit>I)'. I (H8), 93-97: l 1Jli lleie1, "The llistorirnl :incl Psvrhological Sig11ifi-
:incl O rhC'r \'0111ba C<'n1cr~: Ar( /111/lt1i11 67 (1983): 383-,101.
ca11cc· of Yoruba Mj'lhs." Od1i, j n11mal 1tf )'0111/m 11111/ Reta/rd \·111dif\ I ( 19~>5):
Orew;il, I le111'\' J.. and J ohn Pemhenon wiLh Rowland . \ bioduu. l'omba: .\'i111• 19-22: and ldmrn, ~5-n. Fnr dC'l:til~. W<" Bioduu 1\dcdiran. "Thr Earh
0•11/11riP< of Ajmm1 Ari mu{ 'f'lw11glll (New Ynrk: \,e111c:1 fur Afiican An. l\rgi1111i111,'5 of 1he lfe St.11c." i11 A>.injoghin, 7i.
198!.I). !l. For de1aih, see .John w, nclham. ,\!jll" 1tf /ft (l..011do11: E1'Skinc Mac-
f.\o Ekpo nnd Fr,111k Willen. lrrn< lll'- o/ . \11rin1/ Nigma (New York: Alfrt'd A. donald, 192 1), 13-31: Phillips S1cvcns. "Ori,,;1-:-\l:i Ft'Sti\-•l ." .'\"iftN'/tr tllag(l;.i111•,
Knopf, 1980). no. 90 ( 19fiG): 187; ldowu. 18-27; Fahu11111i, 6-7; Smi1h (as i11 11. 7). 14: and
Fah11111ni, Michael /\.. ip .Wiri111•5 (11(·. Jfc, Nigrria: Un ivc1~i t)' of If<> Pr<'s.•, I !l(i9). l•oln Olo11iola, "lfe before Od1lrl11wi't," in Akii!joghi11, 51-1.il.
ldow11, t. Rol:ui. Oi1id1lmr11i: (;11;/ i11 1·11111/111 llrliPj, re, . ed. (New York 01 ii:i1rnl 10. r\tkdirn11 (as in 11. 8), !10: anrl l<aac l\kii!iogbi11. ·The C.ro\\lh of If« from
PublicaLions. 1!19!'>). Orli1Chm~ 10 1800." in l\kinjogbin. 98.
l..:1wal, Bahn1unck. 1971, "Some i\.•pcus of Yoruba Ae,th<"lics." Brit11h/mm1fll 11. For drtaiJ,, <ee .\biodun A. Adcdimn and Samuel A Aril,110. ·111e
11fA1·s1hetin 14. no. 3: 239--19. Rclibrio11• Fr,1irnls of Ill:." in ,\ kinjogbin. 30~>- I i; and J ot:! Adcdcji. "Folklore
- -- , 199G. nir (;;.1;<1,; s1H'rt11r/,.: Ari. <:n1dn. rmd Sori11/ llarmony iu m1 1V11m11 and Yo111ba Drama: Ohin:il:i '"a Case 'llldl ," i11 .lfrimn folk/me. ed. Richard
Cullum (S<'an lc: Uni,·c rsity of Washi11g1on Press) . M. Dorson ( l3loomi11i:ton, Ind.: Indiana l.inivr1 ily Press. 1072), '.121-:19. Sec
Willcll, Fr.ink. 106fi. "On Lhe F111wra l ECfigics of Owli and lk11i11. :incl lh(' also Blier. 3. :186.
ln tcrprct::Hinn of lh(' l.i fe-Siz<: Bron!.(• I leads from lie," J\11111.Jnimwl oflhr I 2. Fo r a review of 1hc c1-idcrn:c, •ce Robin C. L,,,., "Thi? I (('rirnge of
Huyfll t\11thrt.1IJU/t/1<iml lns11111r. 1u.. I : :H- -15. Odt1duw;I I radilions: l lis101'\ a nd Polil.ical Propaganda." .frmrnnl 1if •Vlirnn
- - - . 1967, /ft 111 //w Hi1/11') 11f lli>•I Afrim11 Sr11ip111rr (Nrw York: '.\kGraw- Hi<lm)' 11, 110. 2 (1973): 207-22; Arie Obayt·111i. •·The Yornba and Edo-
l lill ). Spraking Pt'oplt:s and fheir 1cighbours hrfn1<' IGOO," i11 ll1S1orv oj \\i><l ,lfnm.
cd. J.F.A. Aj:t)i and ~1ichael C. Crowder, vol. I (l.0 11du11: Longman, 1971).
19()-263: h ola O lomoh1. " rhe Eastem Yoruba Cn111nrv before Od i1d11wil: A
Reasscs.111<·111 ," in '/71r l'rur1'l'fii11g1 oj lite ConjrrmtP mi i'urubtt Civdi:alion, ed.
lsaar A. Akinjogbin nncl G. 0. Ekemode (lie-He, ~igeria: Dcparum·m o l
Notes I listol'\ , l ' ni\crsi1y of lie, l.9i6). 3 4- 73: Ulli Beier. "Before Odt1duwi1." Od1i,
.Jn11mnl of l'11111/m 1;T11/ Rrln/1•tl S111t/1r.1 3 (1956): 25--12; Robin I lonon. "Anciem
He: A Rra<.<cl>Smen1," .fo11mnl of !ltr Hisloriml Sori'''Y ef Sigrria 9. no. I ( I9i9):
ThC' fii'SI vrrsion of 1h" anicle (1i 1led " Bc·yond Phy<iog nom1 : ll1e Sigi1ifvi11i:: 69-150: n11d Samu<") 0. Arifalo. "Egbe Omo Odt1duw:l: $1ninu1c a nd Stra1-
Face in Yoruba An :111cl Thnugh1") '"'" presented Jl ,1 sp<'cial s('<Sinn of thl' C:i.,')'... Od1i,jr11mwl of \l'f.•I. lji•i,.1111 Studir~. 11.s.. 110. 2 1 (I 98 1): 73-9fi. To fun her
Alric;111 S111dics Worksho p. Uni,•e1'<i1y of Chica!(u . .Ja11. 27. 1()98. I am g r:i1rf11l rei11fo1 te 1hc 011111 Otl1ld1lwri rlnr1rin<', the Yoruba a lso call thc111~rlvcs Omo e
10 Ralph A11,1e11. Anrlrcw Aptl'r, FrC'drika J acobs, I Iowan) Risaui. Rohen k'1i1inl. r ti j( ii~t (Tho'e who love to sa1, ·r.ood 111orni11g. rlid 1•ou wake up
1lobbs, Sharon I lill, Alhrn Robens. Po lh :-\oole r Roherts. :md Lhc anommow. well7-)-all11cling lO the emphasis 011 cow·tt'S\ in 1hcir culture. l11e C'JUCSL for
Ari 11111/p/111 1cadc:rs for 1heir 1ho11ghtf11l cnmmen1s. Special 1hanks arr due lo social hanno nv is empha>i£ccl in the pro\t'rb "E k':"1iiro e oji irt• ki i s'omo id
.John r . Paoletti ,md Pcr1> Chnp111a11 fur their cliLicism<, insig hts. anrl s 11gg1·.,.. ijit" (lig11rntivelv. Goorl nt'ighborlinc•< and q11arrclmmcne<-• an' no1 compai-
Lions. Lnry Fr.111kel for her meticulous cop\'Prli 1ing, aud L' lli l.leier. George iblc).
C:hrmeche,jus1inc Corrlwell, Ro11 Epp>. Robin Poinor. Rnhe11 Fa1~1;s T hump- 13. lrlow11, 71. This prarer is necessary lwra11,c· Ob:it:11:1 is drnractcri£ccl in
'on, Fra11k Wil1C'll , and Richard Woodward for pho10gr:iphic ;1.o;sisrn 11ef'. I some myths as a hahiui:1l dri 11kcr who. when drunk. crc>atf'S albinos. hunch-
would :liso like 10 .1ck11owledgc the l'CSearch s11ppor1 p1 O\'ided b)' 1.he Fac11ltv b<ick.s, cripple>. and 01.hrr rlisflg11 1eel persons.
Grant-in-Aid and th<' School of 1hc Al'ls Research Leaw prngr:1m<, Virginia 14. For derails. see Wandc Ahirnholn. " iw;ipelc: rhe Concep1 of Good
Co111111011"cnlth U11hersit1. T1a11<lations ,11 c minr 11nic'>< o lh<·rn-ise inclk are d. Charnc1er in lf:i Litcra1')' Corpus." in Abimbola (as in n. 5). 389-·1 18: Lawal.
I . Sec Babn11111de Lawal. "Tlw Roi" of An in Ori>1.1 Wo1'l'hip among lh(• Hl74 , 239- 19; Rowland Abiodun, -1dc111itv and Artistic Process in Ynrnba
Yoruba." in 1'1111·rnlmf.." nf 1hr /oi1~1 ll inltl (~1111,rrt•\\ rifOmn 'fitlflilion. ed. \\'a11dr Aes1he1iC' Cn11trpt of iw:1." lmmutl of Cullw~ 11nd ldnt< I. no. I ( I 98'.l): 13-30:
Abi rnhola ( ll i:~ l rc. ):igr1 in: Oepan111e111 of i\fiica11 La11g11;'1g<"' anti Li1cr.1ture•, and idem. "The F111ur<' of Afrknn Studies: An 1\liicnn PerspeCliVl',.. in . ljiican
Univt·rsil) of lfc. I!18 1) ' 318-25. Whl'rC"<IS ri1U1ini11 is a gcncl'iC te rm f<ll' all S111t/11.,: '11.- Fulw'i' of 1hr .f )i,ripli11P, SJmf'o.1ir1111 Or1<11111:ud /Jv lh<' Nalirmal M mmm
.u·tblic rcp1c~c 11l.llio 11 ~. 1he word f.-rf' r~fcl'S Lo an imagC' i11 llw ro und, that is, of.'Vnrn11 ,\ 11 (Wn.•hi11g1011. ll.C.: Smi1hsonian lim i1u1ion Pr.-.'>, 1 ~190). 63-89.
a piPft' of sc.:ulpntr(". The \\'Ord rirri dt~note~ an intricate· design or pa11f"rn. I 5. The identilic<itio11 of rhr f1· niale l>odi with procreation was probal>h'
al tho ug h i1 is a lso 11'<"<1 to dcscrihe a 1011r d e force m::inift',lt."d in the \-is11al and rcsponsihk for the mboo 111 the pas! that ;1 woman should 1101 <'ngage in
pl.'donning ans. sc11lp1111<• hcc:mse it migln i111 ..rkre with her n:procl11rl.ive po" er. I lence, Olli)
 I li t. SF I F \'\I) IT\ \II· li\l'll\'\t!'\I. Oll t FR I'\ \' ORVIi.\ ,\Rf 52'.3

po,unrnopamal womc11 \\ere allowe<l to do figurauw po11en·. Although this 35. Sec abo_ Nathaniel Faclipc. Tlir Sonolvf{)' of the >Urnba (Ibadan, Nigrria:
taboo i5 ,,;11 strong in n11-al Yornbaland , it i, no lo11ge1 honorr<l h1 the Unil'cr~in· of Ibadan Pre~•. 19i0), 1!8:1-86.
\\-.:stet n-educ;11f'cl Yoniba in ll1e urban area,, who now allow thei1 d.mghtf'r< 36. Philip Allim11. •Vri111n .\t1111P Srulpturl' (i':ew York: Fri:cle1icl.. Pracgcr,
to ,pcti.1li1e i11 <n1lpt11r<' in a1 t school. 1968), 21.
I ll . .See lki1·r, t!l-20. c\n o therYoniba \\'Ord for motlw1 is l\fOI 1nr. 11hich 37. L.ibolari11de is the m1111e of the imlhiclual being a.'ked to go and look
means .•1cco1ding to se1·eral field informants. "the om· who 1:1icl nie. [Jf~ like for EsL1·• figure at the rit'\' g:nC'.
an egg: &cause of the 1011al nature of the Yorn ha l,1nguagl". it is sig nilkan1 38. Pic1 re Vergrr, l\'n/r1 wr /I• r11/tr t/p, (Jmn rt \ '1,,fi111 n Bnl1w. [(I Bmr dr tom
tt1 note tlMl while 11; meam to 1is11ali1c or fashion in an1 nwdium. wi 1nean" /;1 .\nm/.<, 1111 B1P<1/ rt 11 1: 111nmn1 C:1it•• tin fadmli's m 1\fnque (Daka1, Senegal:
LO ch .111. I ,1111 g-r.11cf11l w scvcra.l Yoruba a1 ti5L5 for thf' id1•a, expt<·,,rd in thi< !FA.'\, 1957). 127. Yornba text: "A ti· ki1r(1 A leg-• 0 n lo ninlt epa a1ari rC'
JMtogr;iph, mnM l'Spedallv, ~ l ichael Labode of ld6fo1i. AvetoriJ. Canip.1 nhan liriliri I Opelopc giga ti 6 g<1 I Est1 11i o gun o ri aro ni or, h11 i, (, sf obc'-. ...
Scl-nni Doga o f ltni:ko (both inten·irwed in 197 1). 1\ja)i lhuke of C)p;, L..'\holMinde. ti o b:i cl<'.· bode ti o ko ba bani r n11 ocli ni nro oko I On na ni
(i11tCr\'iewed in 1!172-73), Gbru1 .i\s11rlc of lit- (illlen•iewed in 1971): and o da oko nibiti ;11 C1gbo le d e." ~l'•' also Prmhf'non (as 111 11. 29). 25: !:k ier. 28;
Ct'C>rge lla111idelc- of Osi Ekiti (interviewed i11 t!l73). and Adeo1e (as in n. 3 1 ), :~2.
17. Thr n1n•cr C:ani)'tt Seko11i Oob'll of lmcku clrew 111) anrntion 10 a 39. Fo1 the Yoniha, iwri has two aspctt>. the external a n d imemal; the one
rognat<· tcnn. 1il'ligW. a cot1L10CLio11 of i1 (art of), rri (to thi11k or imagi nr). and bas to do wi 1h phriral appcaralltl'. ~111d tht' other wi th charancr. Both aspect•
g/Jr (to c.11-ve). are tnkC'n into comiclcr:uiun in the a•S<''>lllelll of:rn in<lividual\ bea111v (n1•1i ). 0

18. The t-:111 th Gocldc'i.5 is frcq11c111h rtprcse111ed on th<' altar as a pai1 of For instance, a person with ,1 b<'a11t iful hodv but who has an 11npleasant
mall' and femal<· figures to S)1nboli1e her androgynous natur!' a11d the fact rharacter i' reg;1rdt"d as no 11101e than a woodc11 cioll, wherell• the pop11lar
that 5he u-.1mcencl~ the manifestation of grnder in the physirnl wUI Id . For sa)ing a<>e1h. "Jwf1 l'c11;i" (ChM;.1 nn cft·tt·m1i11c' beautv). For details, M'('
11101(' details, sec lhbatunde Ll\1~u. "A Iii CHO. A r,i TO: New Perspectil't'S on l.aw31. 197·1. 239--!!J.
F.clan Ogb6ni." .lfrim11 A111 28. no. I ( 19% ): :{6-49, 98-100; Petet ~JC>rton­ -10. Rohen F. Titompson , ·'Yornba Artist ic Critici'ltt." i11 71w Tmditionfll
Willia111s. •. \n Outline of tbe Cosmology of the Oy6 Yoruba." •Vnrn. .founlft/ rif . \ rti.11 ;,, t1j11tn11 Sune/1'. ed. Warren L. d'A.<<'1'edo ( Bloomington. Incl.: Indiana
1/11• /n/«mnt1111wl .1jrimn //1111tute 3-l ( 196·1 ): 2 IS-60; and E. Roache-Selk, From Univef>itv Press. l!li:~), 32.
thP \\iim/J 1if 11,, Em1h: ;\n .4pprmnt1011 of l'o 111b11 Bron:.!' :111 (Wa.hington. D.C.: 41. Fo; more on the Yoniba colllept of the spirit donhle, 5ee R;11111011d
Un i\'cr.it) Pre5s of America, 1978). Prince, " Indigenous \'ornba P;.11:hiatn: in ,\Jngu. Fruth mid llm/i11g. ed. Ari
19. Although Yoruba artists ha"e produced works in l'arious media, rnngiug Kie' (New York: Free Press. 1964 ). 93-94: .tnd ldowu. I 73. Ju the ca>e of111ins
from elm· and i1·on LO stone, iron, and brass. a good majorit1 of them are in ribrji). some Yoruba believ<> that an indi1id11a.l has been bom along with his or
wood. Thi> i~ p;u·tl1 because wood is <'asv to sculpt and parth because much her spirit double. For dc1ai1', sec· M.u ill n Houlberg. " lbcji Images of the
of Yon1bal:rnd lies 111 the rain-forest zone with abunclam trees for caning. Yornha." 11fiirt111 . l rt1 7, no. I ( 197'.{): 20-27. \)I.
20. For more· details, sec Peter Llo\'d. "Craft Organiz3tfo1b in Yoruba -12. Frcqu.:mlv. thi: patient may be gi1en som e herbal mixture lO dri11l.. 01
Towns." Afnm. .foumnl of the Jutmwtionnl :lfrirr111 Jmt1t11t• 23 (1953): 30- 44 : an amulet Lo 11e:ir on th e bocl1• to linl.. ll1c ponmiL 11ith th e portraved.
and Abiodun ct ,11. 4 3. Informants wi;,h to remain anommous because of th<' sensitive nature
21. ,\biodun. 1990 (as in n. 14). i6-7i. o f the 111at1·riab. According lO them, 10 pre1em ahortion tW p1cnia1111e
22. Sec al~o Keli11 C. Carroll. Yoruba [(;•li!(iom <.i111•i11K (Loudon: Ceoffre1 clelivtf). fo r instance. a piece of 11,i1w 111<1) he: wound around thl' beth ofa11
Chap111a11. l \16i). 94-95: and Tun<le Akinycmi, "he 011ii Sbe:· in'·" /11 11bt1.1·P. 1
image representing the patiPnl. This 1itual is called <ryu11 tlide (t) ing of
ed. T . M. llesanmi (lie-lie. Nigeria: Ohafcmi Awolowo Unh ersi11· Pres~. 1989). pregnanci). The twine would be 1c·11101t·d a few weeks before tltc baby was
257-:19. clue. o the1wise, nonnal rlclivt' t)' would lw impossible. In sorcery. tht> 5ante
1!3. I am especially grateft.tl to incligcno11s c;m·ers .uch ns Georg<' Ua111idcle method m ar he used to delay 01 pos1po11t' delivef)' indefinite!). TI1a1is11•h)•
of 0 i l~kiti. Ajayi lbuke of Oy6 .•m<l Ganiyu Sckoni Doga of lme ko for their a ny woman with an 1111usua lh lo11g pregna11C) is aclvisrcl LO ronsi 1h di1•incrs 10
ho,pitalin <luring Ill\' fieldwork. For more infonnation on 111•. >cc Pic·1Te help trace the cause. A patkn t with per~i~ten1 or d1roni.c bodi pai11 is
\ 'erge1. "The Yornba High God: A Re1·iew of the Sources," Odti. l '11i11mil)' o/ lfi' some1imi:s giwn a small <'fTigy 10 he kept vc1v clo,e to the body so that the
/oumal 11j Ajrirr111 Studil'S 2, no. 2 (1966): 19-10: and Rowland i\biodun. pain can L1~1mfer into it. Afw r .1 whik. the dlii.," is tl1 rown imo a .;,·er LO cool
··L:11der>1,111ding \'oruha An and Acsthctk.: TI1e Concept of A,c," A(rirr111 ArtJ the p;1in. Gagging an clligv 111av cause the ml-!iect to stammer or hrromC'
2i. no. 3 ( 199 l) : 68-78. I 02-3. inrohcrclll or specchl1·•'· This is called h/1 (muzzling) . Anotl1cr fom1 of hli
21. Fut more infomtaLion on miJn, ~ec· Chief J. A. A\'Orinde, "Oril..i." in involves bi11ding 11p :111 cfTig\ \ limbs with .1 suing to hamper 11101·emc111 or
Biob.il..11 ( <15 in 11. 5). 6'.~i6: Botanic Awi:. "Note> on Oril..1 nncl \l'arfare in <:ause paralysis. William Fagg illmtrat<·• a bo und figure in his book .\lmwtw.,.
\'orubaf,1nd." in Abimbola (ns in n. 5), 26i-92; anrl Karen n.1rbcr. I C,,11/d \\1111tl <:nn•lllJ(I of 11;•1/. lfnm (GH·enwirh. Conn.: New York Graphic Sotit'l)",
S/1mk 111111/ Tnm11rmw: Oifki, \~i11111·11. rm// thf Pn.11111 fl l'flmufl T0t1•11 (\\'ash ington, 19i0), pl. 2 ~ . although. according to him, th e lu11clion of the string i'
D.C:.: Sn1ith>oni,111 h1'tiu1tio11 Press, 1991). unknown. ,\n image 11iL11 a swolle11 f.,g or scrotum i, expected to can>c
~l:). \\'and<' Ahimhola. ljci: An Expositiu11 of lfti I itP1W1 C()l/1111 (ibiidan. :-:ig<"'- elephantiasis. though tht' same image ma\ be used Lo effect a cure. In a >pccial
da: Oxford L' nivcrsit:y Pre:.s. 1976), 133-:H (trans.). Yorubd text: " ni 1110 ha ritual called cip;;ta (invoke and shom) or npepa (invoke and kill), .1 cla1 eflig1
1611·6 l<iw6 Ori ni II 6 ro fim I Ori mi iwo ni I Br 1110 ba bimo l;iyf Ori ni is proctirecl a nd 1hrn shot at with a g un or poisoned arrow. 111e subjcc1 b
n 6 1iJ flin Ori mi iwo ni I Ire gbogbo ti mo ba ni l:ive I Ori ni n 6 ro f.:111 I expected 10 rlir sooner or later. ,\mon g the Fon of the Republic of Benin.
Ot i mi iwo ni.'' "power images" vHiously called buoo (bti, charm, and ri11. corpst•) and 11li11 11/e
26. Fo1 m ore details, sec Babatuncle L-iwal, "Ori/0111~1r:The l lcn11eneu1ics o l g/JPlo (rllin, wood, 11/,.. rest'mbling, and gbPIO, hunmn being) pe1form ~i mila r
the I lead and Hairstyles among the Yoruba," in Jlrur in African tlrt am/ Cu/t11rf, functions. Some borio a re ponnit~ of •pccific indhicluals. i~hile o thers repre-
rd. Roy Sieber i1nd Frank He rre man (New Yot k: Muse11n1 of African Art: scm personified nat.urc forces. Fo1 detai ls. sec Su1anne P. Blier. Afrimn I 'od1w:
Munich: Prestel. 2000), 93- 109. Art, /';)•rholog:i, a111/ l'uwn (Chicago: lJnivt"r;iry of Chicago Press. 1995).
27. O labiyi B. Yai, "111 Praise of Metom1ny: Thr Concepts of 'Tradition' and <f.J . Lewis Hyett•, Trir/11111r /\ lnlws Thi• W()l'/d: ,\ li~thi1'f1 Myth. a1<tl tlrl (New York:
'Crcativitv' in th e Tra11srn.ission of Yoniba Anisuv over Time a nd Space:· in Fan-ar. Strnus ancl Giroux, 1998) , 7-10. Sec also Lawal, 1974. 2-12--13.
Abiodun et al., IOi. ·13. Ti moth) A. Awoniyi. "011 1ol(1w~bi: The Fundamemal Basis of Yon1ha
28. For details. sec Babattmcle LaMtl, "Ori: The ignifkam.c of tl1c Head in Traditional Education ." in Abimhola (as in 11. 3). 3i9.
Yornba Sculpture." .f11umal uj A.nthm/Jologiral /?fl;mrrh ·ll, 110. I ( 1985): !l 1-103. -16. ldowu. 11 : .111d Fahun mi. 8.
29. For more on Esti. ;ee lclowu. iS - 83: J oan We;,cou. "The rnlpuuc .tnd -!/.As cautioned in the popul:u p101e1h: "Bf isu en1 ba tu. nsr ni a ;i rowo
~ lvths of Eshu-Elegba, the Yornba Trickster.'' 1Vnrn.Jn11mnl of th1• /11temativ1111/ bo 6 je" (After <ooking ''good )'3111 , 011e 11111st co1·er one's mouth 11•hilc eating
t\fnr1111 /11.1t1t11t"32, no. 4 ( 1962): 337-54:J11ana E. do' Saulo> and Deo;corrde• it ). In omer1101ds, to a1·oicl tlw jt•al<>m) <if the ha'.:c-nolS. one !nust not parade
do> Santos. l'..Sti /Jaw Ltirfn·; (ibiidan. :'.'igeria: lns1itlllt' of Afrira11 Stuclil·s, o ne'5 good IOnunr in public. Sec J. O ..\jibola. Owr \'oru/Jfl (lhadan. Nigeria:
l' ni1e·1~it' of ibad;111, 19i I): aHd johu Pemhenon. "Esht1-Elcgba: TI1c Yo1 uba o~rorct U11in·i.it1· Pies>. 1!)791. 6:1.
TricK,,tcr God." .1[rim11 Art.; 9. no. I ( 19i5): 20-2i. 66-70. 90-91. 18. In ll1c past, ph1"1ognom~ was consid<:1t·d "" impona11l a5pect o l por-
30. \l'ande Abimbola. "The Yoruba Conci:pt of 1-lw n.in Personali11·." in / .a trailu1·e in 1he West. For a 1c·1i1:w of thl· literat111 e, see 1lans P. L'Orange,
1111ti1111 de /H'1V111111• m Afriqiu: C.olloqu" i11tn1111fw11t1tt\ d11 Cn1tir Xn/101111/ tfr la t1po1lw1>11< 111 1\ 11rlt'nl l'o1tri11/11rr ( 19·17: 1eprint. ew Rochelle. N.Y.: C:U';Hz.."l•
Jfi!rlm-rhl' SriPlltifiqur. no. 5+4 (Paris: Centre :'.'ational cir la Rcchcrdtc Scie11- Brothrrs, 1982); Fla,·io Caroli, ,\tonfl r/pl/fl /""1ug11t11111m: Arif P p11r11lo1rt1 tla
1ifiq11e. 19il ). 80. Sec also l .m<1l (as i11 n. 28). !l l- 10!\; ancl Ro" land Abioclun. l .mmmlo fl Fmul (J\lilan: I eonardo, 1995): ('hri"ophcr Riwrs, J-iirP \'ti/11r:
"\'t'rb.il anti \1~11al Metaphors: Mrrhical Allusio11~ in Yoruba Rituali5tic /\rt of l'lty11upw1111rf1/ T/iflug/11 and tltP /,ptrh/P !JfH~V in i\l(l nt<flLIX. J,rn1n/f'r. Uab1 r. Ctw·
Ori," Wmd 1111d /11111gr. .fuunwl cif l 'rr/111/-\ 'i111"/ /11q11uy 3. no. 3 ( I98i J: 252-iO. tl11n. r111tl 7.11/fl (i\'fadison , Wi<.: Un iversll\ of \\'iscon,,i11 Pn•ss, 19'.l~ ); Frcddka
31. Chris1opht'1 L. Adeoyc, A>ti 1iti i;e l'urn/111 (Oxford: Oxford Uniwr<it1 Jacobs, Drj111111/( lite Rmau;1111r• V11t1w.1(1: · \\ i1111n1 .-\1tisu and the Lm1g'llage uj Ari
Press. 1979), 30. Hi,IUJ)' mid <:1i11mm (New Yo rk: Carn bridge Uniwr.it\' Press, 199i); .Jennifer
32. In llic Yoruba language. the word oj1i refers w both the fate :111d th<' f'y<': ~1omagu . Tilt f ..,·pn•;s1011 of thr l'11.1 1ions: Thr 01igi11 11111( !11Jl111•11rr of <:l111r/P1 l.r
thf' ryeball is 1y111 0111 (the egg of the c1c). The face, as nsed in this article. ai>o nnlll ·, "umfP1·mrr ,1111 lio,\fJ11•s1i1111 gi'r1hnh• 1•1 /Jflrtirulih·r· (Nc·w Have11: Yale
i111plicatcs the cvt», excep1 when it is nccc<>at) w diffcre11t iatc the o ne fro m Univt:rsill' Press. l!l9-1) : Ernst I!. Gon1btid1, "The Mask and the Fact·: Tht·
the ot llt'r. l'e rc<'ptit; n of Ptwsioi,ri10111it' l.ikcne5> in Life and Art," i11 ,·\rl. Perrt/J/frm r111tl
33. Willia111 nru;co111, lfti /)i11111ntirm: Co m1111111i<11lio11 belwrl'll Mm 1wd (;11d.1 i11 Rrtilil)'. eel. Frni.1 11. Gomhrich . .Juli:111 Hochhcrg. and ~fax Black (B<1lti11101c:
\\io5t ,Vnm (Btnomington, ln<l.: Indiana l ' nh-f'rSit) Pn·ss, 19(i\l). 159. J ohns H opki11• UnivP r~i l\' Prc-ss. I 972). 1- 46: and joa11na Woodall. ed .. /'or-
3 1. Ibid .. 97. tmiturr: Fflti11g th• .\11h)l'tl (Manchl'Ml-r: M.111che5tc·r Unive1..,ity Prc'5. I \!9i).
 524 AR I' IHl l.l ETIN S El' 'J ~, \Hll:.K ~Oll J \ ' 01.UME J XXX JJJ XLl)JJH.R :l

See also Daniel P. 13iebuvck. e d ., 1'mdilio11 (/I/fl r:rl'(/111111)' II/ fn bal Ari ( BcrJ...elcr: ducin g the b ead -e111b1011k 1l'cl 'ro,,n wi1h \eil ;u1d bird m o tifa 10 JJ1c \'0 1uba.
Un iversity of California .Press. 1969): and Robc11 F. Tiioonp<on . .-\fr1r1111 tlrt j,, But accordi11i.: co Olomola (.as inn. 12 ) . 5fi - 57. the Odioduw:i d' n asty would
J\11Jl1011 (Lo• Angeles: University of California P1c-.s, 197•1) . seem to h,l\e si111 pl) U>cd a pr<'l'>.i<iing clesib'l1 as a mod el for its bl'adccl
19. A second-burial figure is called ak1i if i1 repre<enas a dn'<''15c:d chief 01 crown. The q uestion then arisl's: ls 1hc nhsence .. r a beaded veil 0 11 1he crown
rom munitv leader and iptide if i1 n:prescms a deceased hun1c1. I lmH'\t'r, 1he wo111 b~ 1mu w of the lie ( po>t-Odi1duw:i) king figures clue 10 t11t' techn ical
i/mdr ma1 al'o repri:scnt those who_a re n o t humcrs. including wo m en. See proble 111s o f m odeling 1he veil in dav and casti ng i1 in h1-a..<~ Ah enmti\'eh. 1he
J>. 0 . O g11nhowale, AMi /bite l'onib11 (Ibadan. Nigeria: O xford Llnin·r1i1v Prc<s, t)pe of Cl'0\\11 \\0111 b1 a good 111ajori1v of the If(· figu res m ;1) veo' well bt-10111;
1966). ()0-61. to 1he ca1eg<>•)' of to10 11e 1s rnlll'cl nn'lliigbtij11 (casu al h eadgear) wo rn bl' 1hc
50. The foll o wing son g s ung duai n g au ciko <lispla" in Owo i< a lso signilicam: ki n g wiJ hin 1he palace. wlwn hb face was U11CO\'ercd.
"Ma) I be poil'ilegcd to bwv om fath er I Mav I be privikf,rc·d 10 lmrv my fa 1hcr I 69. Bo ele Osan) in , "A Cross-road o f His ton·, LcgC'nd and i\lvth: TI1c Casr of
Despite a ll e\il m achinatio n s / Despi1e a ll evil forces I I will car11· nw fa1her 1Jw Origin of Achi111i1t)1ki," in "The Masquc·rndc in Nigerian H i<tory and
1hrongh 1hc path of hono ur... ... See Abiodun. 10- 11. :\'otc th e miki for Cuhurc: Proccccli11!(> of a Workshop, S('pleanbcr 7-1 ·1. 1980," ed. Nwa1111a
dcccm.cd twim ciJed below at 11. I 05. Nzcw11nwa (School of I l u111ani 1ics, U 11iversily of Portharconn, J>orJhar<'o111 t,
;; I. For more informaJion 011 secm1d-b111ial i111agcs, see Justine Cordwell. Nigeria. 1982, mimt><>l:,'1'1JJhccl). 111 - 1·1. One legend Lraccs iL< 0 1igin 10 the
"Na 1tn~1li sm and S1yli:rn1io11 in Yoru ba Art," Mflgm:.in1• of Art ~ti (I %3): 220-25; 17th century dooring the rl·ig-11 of Oba ( king) Addo, while anmher clai1m 1h:11
Will<'ll , 1966. 34--1!;; Abiodun. l -20; B'1ba11111de L:iwal, "The Living Dead: An it began in tlw 18 th c·cnttll) wloc 11 Oba Ologun KuLcrc was on 1he 1h ro1w.
a nd l111111o nali1) a mong the Yoruba." .~friw. j o1m111/ of I hf ln/f'l·nolio11al Ajtican 70. lhid.. .J '.~2-'.l'.l.
fll>lil11l1•-l7. 110. I (1.977): 50-61: a nd Robin Poynor, "Aki> Figures ofC)wo and 7L. 1bid., 11 0; and ~ l irh a c'IJ .C. t::chcruo. l'irtnrir111 Lng~.i: th/iPCls ofi\ 'iwlm11h
Second Burials in outhern Nigeria." Afncan .-lit ; 21. no. I ( 1088): li2-63, umlwy Lagos l.ifi' (Lo ndo n : i\lac111illa11, J977). 69- 70.
8 1-8:3. SG-87. 72. As Olumiclc Luca< (as inn. 8). 1•15. has o bserved. "Even 1he Ob<1 [tht·
52. Ahiocl1111 . 14 - 15. In other cases, 1he c hild. clad in Lhc best dress o f 1hc reig ning king) ... 111<1\' hions elf be a n f:ro fm asq ucra dc J o n th at da)'." Since
d eceased (rcgardles< o fv.h ether the dress is O\ersize). is led arou nd the town . the 1940s. th r f11n c1io11 of 1hc Adarn(1oaisa festival h as been exp:indrcl.
l'unetioning lil..e a li\~ ng emg\'. rr the deceased was a chief, the human Whe reas in thr pa.s1 i1 wa< staged to h onor onlv kings. chiefs, and member- o f
surro1:,•<He would be gre1ned, addressed . and paid t11c " 'me respects as o ne. t11e r0\-a.l ta111il\ . toda1 it 1113\ al<o hi' s1agnl lo h o n o r distinguished citizen• ol
I lowe\'er , 1he human s urrogate is no1 buried like an e ffigy. Sec Lawal (as in n . Lagos a nd 10 mar·J... imponaiH e\'cnt<. • cc Osan~ in (as in n . ()9), 133.
.J I ), 32. _ 73. .Jacob Egha,-evba, :\ Slum 1-fulon of &min (fb:idan , ~igeda: Gnh'eositv of
53. Abiodun. 11 (1r:in s.). Yonaba 1ex 1: "Or6 11a1<· o I Wa n.i ia e I \\'ii :i bero Ibadan Pre>S. 1960). 12. According Jo ~:gh arcvba, t11is u-aclition 'topped wh en
t61i o I Oh'.1da iramcn .... I Ajpda mimi ve rel..in1 cjc I L'1ogh o u!a I B:i mi Oba Oguola (who reigned i11 t11e 131.h -l -lth cen1111J'} rcq u c>tcd Lhc J...i ng o f lie
le cstilt' o I Oma ow66Lo6n w66sin ogho / Urogho o l:i. ba 111i It' <»talc 0.- Jo sE"nd a brass rru.1.e r to Leach Benin artist< how 10 casl iu 111et:tl. An Lfe bra"'
!14. Yonoba text: "M:i j 'okiu1n) n I !\l:\j'ckiol6 / Oh nn 1i " " " otj<' l'ftiiall- o run I rnstcr called lg u e hae was laJer sent to Benin CitY. Sre also Willett, 1967. L32;
Niki o hfi wcn1je I 0 d i gl>Cre I 0 di ann:ik<'> I 0 di •°!i"' :'1J;i I Ki a 16 oirn." Fo1 <1J1d Paula G. 13t"n-Amos. 'Otr Art of /1'•11in, re\'. eel. ('\'ashington , D.C.: S111i1h-
vaiian1s of this dirge, sec Bade ,\juwon, /~111rml DirKf" 11_ 1'11111/J(( /-11111/rn (:\°<''' so11ia11 l.nstitu1ion Press. !!)!):;). 20 -~!;.
Yoo k: Nok, 1982), 66-67; and L~aba tun ck Olau11tji . ·A.,~ lsin J..11 :iii Ogt:mjije." H. Nathaniel A. Fadipe. 11it.'forioloro of/Irr l'om/111 (ib:irl:in , Nigeria: Ib:id:in
in i!l'I: A.wi i/ii/; l'on1b11. eel. Ohorla rc Olajub11 (ikcj i1, Nigetia: l.onl-(m:on , 1978), lJni,·ersit)' Prc•s. 1970). 206.
77-7R 75. Ibid., 207.
f>5. To 1he Yoruba, t11c souls o f those who d ied pr<'mawr<'I)' do 110 1 go 76. For a review o l the ll'c king list. srr Akiitjogbi11 (as in 11 . JO). %- 12 1.
dirC'CJ I)' Jo the /1fJcrlifc (t:hin-lwti). Such souls mn y r<>lornt<' in fore ig n ln11ds. 77. Adcdir.111 (as in n . 8) . VO: and Akinjogbin (:L< in n. 10), 96-97.
n ·i11n1rrn1te in bodies identica l to Lh05C in1crrc d . and to111 in11P Jo live likl' 78. Atkdi1~111 (a• i11 n . 8), !) I : and Al..injogbin (a; in n . IO). 96-97. A/tiriji11
1w 1m al h11111a11 bci11gs . Some reincarna ted souls (ak1it/111iy1i) m av even remarry (ow1w1 nl' lhC' p:1lart'), iht' Oy6 Litle for th e king. e\'idcntly d e1i,·es fro m ollijin,
and havl' chilclrr11 . For dewils, sec Willian1 13;iscom , ··1 he Yoruba Con cept ol' which is sairl 10 h:11'<' hel'n fi 1'>l U>tcl b)' Ocli1d u w:'1.
the Soul." in J\l f/1 11111/ Cullum.. ed. A.F.C. Wall.1cl' (lk11..clcv: L'niversitv of 79. Ad ccli ra n (a> i11 n . 8). 01-93. U11ul rec:e11Jlv. som e sch o lars had assumed
Califo rnia Prrss, 1960), 40 1-LO. 1h a1 i1 wm O bi1Ji1fcm who !rel 1hc igb<:i mid> 0 11 LfC bccaUJ>e he had bt' t·n
36. For m ore information o n second-burial image<, st?e Cordwell (as in 11. deposed b)' ( >rf111m i)"<in (se<'. fo1 imta11ce. Acledeji [as in n . 11 ]. 326-27,
5 1). 2W-25: Willen. 1966. 34-45: Abiodun, 4-20; Lawal (as inn. 51 ). 50-6 1; quoting .J. 0. t\biri: a ncl Blie r. 388-89, <J1 •0 1i11g 1\ded eji). 1311!. a" Aclrcliran
:111rl Povnor (as in n . 51 ). (ibid.) and Fabumni, 17, hmc poin1ecl um. the d efeat of the lgbo ocnnTed
57. W ille11, 1!>66, 3i . Sec al.so Abiodun. 14 - 1:». during the second reign o f Oh:illafon (Al~l'eno oo o c) , wh c::n th e lfe h eroi ne
58. Fr.111k Wille 1, "A Fun.her Shrine for a lluntcr." .1/1111 G.-, ( 196!1): ti6. ~ lo rerni allowed he rself LO be captn rrcl h~ 1he i gho. She late• 1na nied 1he
59. Foi a11 illu>tratio n , sec J\juwo n (as in n. 5.J), 132. J:U. igbo J...ing. ;1cquired knowledge of Lhe igb o \\~r <Jra1egie<. and 1hcn c>caped.
60. These face marks identify a n indhiclual wi t11 a p m 1inolar family or She 1eLUn1ccl w lfc and rC'\'ealcd 1hc•c strategics to Ohiili1fo n , a11Cl the lgbo
lineage. Fo o illustra tions. see Lawal (as in n . 51 ). p l. I . Two clifTcrc m \iews o f were rou1ed when next the)' raided lie. Sec al<o 011ro La clipo. M orhni (Lagos:
th e image are illLt>trated in this article. i\lacmillan. 1971).
61. See, for example. Cord\\·e ll (as inn. 51 ). 220-25; Willt?IJ, 19()7, 26-27: 80. For a comprehen<i\'C' rc,'ie" of JR· an a 11d c ult ure, sec Wille u . 1967.
and EHl .and Wille u , 34. The Genuan an tluopo logis1 Lro Froh<'nins w;i< the 81. Falmrnni. 10- 11. See a l<o Adcdiran (as inn. 8), 90-91 ; a nd Aki1!jo gbin
firs1 10 bring Jhe lfc heads tu t11e auemion ol Wc>lem sch olars in 1he <'arl) {as i11 11. 10), 98-99, 105.
)l'ars of Jh r. 201h celllury. &e Frobeniu.s. 771r \ 'oire o/Ajrim (l!JI 3: repri111. New 82. Src· l\liro, 385-90. According lo Frank Willen. I 967 ( 150). th r Ob:ili1fc) 11
York: 13c otjamin Bloom, 1908). mask might ha\!' hl'<'ll \\ 0 111 bv so111cbodv masquerading a< 1hc ~in g. possibly
ti)!. Cord well (a> in n . 51). 224: Will.:11. 1967, 23, 26-27; a n d C\'O a nd p laving the role o f Ohi llofo n a 1 ceo min ce1·en1onies.
Willen. :H. 8'.I. Akinjogbin (as in n . 10). 99.
63. See. fo r example, Rowland Abio dun. revit>w o f Af ri11111Ari 1111,J l.mdmhi/1. 84. Will ett, 19ti7, 57. 150; ;rncl Sir Adt-soji Arlrremi, "Notes on the Ci1y o l
tel. Do uglas Fraser mad Herbt'n M . Cole. (}d1i, n .>.. 10 ( 197·1): l'.18; a nd I le m v U'i':... Nigrria 1\lflgm1111• 12 ( 1 9:~7 ): 3- fi.
J. D rewal. "lf'e: Origins of An a nd Civiliw1ion; i11 D11·w;il c1 al .. 66-67. 85. J o hnson (as in n . 5). 3-8: and Sa b11 ri 0. Biobaku. '1111' 011g111 of 1/11•
(> I. O rl·wal (as in 11. ti3). 66-67. }'1m1b11, lhmrnnilies ~l on ograph Sciics. n o. I ( 1.agos: U niH-rsitv o f Lagos,
tif>. A~i1ti o)lbi11 , "lfc: The Years ofTra\'ail. 1793-1893." in Akiotjoghin. 148- 1971 ), 8-13.
49. 8(i. See johoi-011 (a• in n . 3). 59.
66. lro nkally, evcm 1ho 11gh ab6bak1/ is a <0111nao nl1' u sed term , i1 is forbidden 87. AJ...i1tjoghi11 (a> in n . 10). JO I. According 10 some accouu ts. Df'boon•
LO S.,) openly t11a1 a king (11iJa) ha, died (k 1i). R.,1hcr, one num use the later s ucceedrd her fr11 h er. allho ug h ot11crs claim 1haJ sh e becam e k ing nm
e uphe 1nism ob11w1111i. meaning "1he 1..ing has asCl'ndcd th e roof" to j oin hi• immedia1ch. b111 ,e,eral )ea rs later. O n h a fc\\' female kings a re 111entio nccl in
ancesto rs. Jhe tre J...ing lis1. tht• m o;t fa mou, being Luwo.
67. SC'e ldowu , 22-t-25. According to the legend. 1hc: ncx1 1..ing was so a ngn 1!8. At Old Ch6. Jhc:re "~•< a Cll>lo m of commissioning a caned . 1ho11gh
wiLh the plo 11ers tha1 he o rdered 1hc·ir exec111io n. in1'!11di11g all tloc coun syliled. ponrail or a n ew king 10 <enc"' his '1111og;1te at cenain public and
an i•1s iowo hrd. Sl'c also Willert. tnti7, 150. p1irn1c ceremonie<. ·1 h e 1radi1io n h a, s uni,·cd a1 prcsenHla1 O,o (sec below
68. The fact that the crow1H wom b" <ornc of the lfc b1~<S and trrra-coua at n . 16 1 and Fig. 26). FJ,1·whcrc in Afaica, a mong 1he Kuba of Zaire. i1was 1h£>
h eads do no 1 appear to h a\e a b eaded '\'eil (Fig. I ) ma1 indic:ne Jhat between practice in 1hc pa<J 10 make a <tvli7<•d po1 tr:1i 1 (11d11fJ) of a n ew king al 1lw
1he 12 1h a11<I 15th ccmuries. ancient Lie king> did no t CO\Cr 1hrir face wh en bc:git111.iug of his reign. which th <'n sc"·cd a.< his •urroga1.e on certain c)cca-
a ppealing in public. lfso. it would be unncccs~al"\' to con ceal th<' face of their sion s. This portrait was also involl'ed in the ritual 1rnnsfcr of roval p ower from
second-burial fig ures. H o wcwr, tlie ab;ence or a l'Cil 011 1J1e crom1 \\Orn b) ,1 deceased king 10 hi• s11cces>o1. Sec Ja11 \'ansina, "Ndop : Royal S1a w c·s
1his Hg urc cannot be taken as in conn·o\'(:o tibh: c\ide11ce Jha t 1ht: kings o f t11c amoug I.he Kub3." in Afrim11 /\11 anti /,mdi>nhip. ed. DougJ;., Fr.t>c r a nd
ti111t' appeared in public wi1ho111 veils. From the rln·" of 1111· figure. it is H erben i\I. <.:ole (Ma dison , V\Cis.: Uni ver,il\ of \l'isrnnsin Press, 1!>72). 1 l-35;
e vident 1haJ beaded oro1a111en1s fanned :an impootalll part o f the ro val reg;ilia a nd t\lo1111i Acla 111', " 18 th Century Kuba King Fig ures." t\jhwn .\rl.1 2 1. n u. :l
:11 11ii, ti111c. Indeed , 1he A»rCJ"own , •aid to prerlr11 .. dw arri\'al o fOd i1d11wa in ( 19$$): 32-38, 88.
lfc, had a ve il. Lho u g h it is 1111ccnai11 whc1lot'r it was onaclc· u f h l'nrls (•ee 89. Sec Will~u. I!Jli7. 28-:lO; and i(ic111. "Scylb1ir Ana lysis nnd the ldcmifi·
Aclt'diran fas inn. S]. 8 4-8(): an ArPcrow11 i> ill11s1r.11ed in Omotosn Eluvc·111i, catio n o f Anis1s' Wnrk>loops i11 Ancient l!C," in Abiocl11n ct al., .J9-;i7. lk catost·
O!lfl AlfP11iji Ademni: 50 Yt1m in the Hisloq• uf lli'-Jfi [ lli·-lfe, :>:igeria: Ogl;nbivi of t11e head~· fonna l and stvli,Jic >irnila ri1it>s. Ke nne th M11rray ("An cicm If<::
Pdn1ing Pre;s, 1980'1. pl. 25 ). The Ocli1cl11w:\ ch-nas tv is credited with in1ro- I.cue no t11c t::di10r." Od1i !I [l!JG:l I: 7 1-80) ha.< s11gges1ed that a good rn'!jc>ril)
 Tii l <;FJ F .\:-:U tT'> Mt L\1'11\'S IL,\l OT ll lK t:-: YORL ll \ ,\RT 525

might ha1·r been made b' one or l\\·O Jrtists with in a sho n period. Agreeing 111. J. A. Adcnralinwa, lfe: Th1' Crndlr of tlw \'rm1h11 (Lagos: Pacific Printing
with ~ l urra1·, Blier. 3~15-99. is of the opit1io11 that. given the fac t that most of Works. I !J[>3). 10- ~I.
the heads resemble the O hiilttfiin mask (Fig. I I). the' llM) ve11 WC'll be 112. ldowu , 22; and Fahunmi . fig. '.?.
associated "~th that fa111ous nrlcr. 113. Adcgboycga Sobancle. · l sint..ii ni Ile Yomha.'' Ol6ku11. no. 9 ( I 9 i 0\: 21i.
90. T he leadiug Yoruba historia n Isaac :\ dc:1gbo Akiajogbi11 refe rs 1.0 the 11·1. Cited in Thompson (as in n. 40) . 58. Thu111pson's i111crvicws with
01110 Odud11w1i contt·pt as the "llb1 Com rnonwealth ": tlrnt is.•111 ·extended se,cral indigt'nous Yornba cmvcrs and cri1ics rewal tha1 Oil<' or the 111 0~1
famih." See l•aac A. ,\t..injogb111, nah0111P)' 1111d Ill .\'Pigh/mun. I 708-1818 (C'.,111- import.rm criteria for an ideal sculpture among lht' Yo nrba i' 1ha1 it should
bridge: Cambridge L'ni,ersit" Press, 1967), H -17. Some of the lie heads ha\'e represent the subject in rhc p1ime of life (see esp. 3ti-58). I ha"e documented
•triatiom aud rahed weal• on the face, hut " 'e .tre nm sure at thl' rnoment tha 1 similar com ments from carvers in O'i Eliti. Ov6. and Ap.'toro in nonhcast-
such fadal marking• refer 1.0 particular i ndi~d u als. Since people " 'ith sim ilar crn. no rthccntrnl, and sou1hwes1c111 Yornha lancl respcc1i,·clr. Fran I.. Wilkll
facial mar liugs arl' to be lonnd in th« northwestern a nd nonhea>lern pans of (1966. :n) bas also ob>crved tliat an ri/<6 St'concl-bnrial cffi~•y of the l;11c
~ige rm. huucl1·eds of miles awav from lie, is it poi.>ible that such heads rder mother of Chief asere .\ detula of Owo (carvrd in 19-13 hv Ogunleve Ologan )
to outsiders? ll is •igni!icant, howcYcr, that some Yoruba 01.11 traditiom ·rl'pre•e111> her "' a voung wom.111 ... : The f.ru that 1hi~ phenomeno n is
ide111 ifv OdCrd uw:"t a~ coming from the nonhea>tern part of presem-da' !'vidcnt in both na1umlis1.ic and"' li1ed porrrai1s •hows that it is rlccplv roo1rd
Nigeria. in iucligcnous Yo ru ba aesth("tics and c.11u1ot be explained <olcl) b1 the prac-
91.J<' an Uorgau i, " Ponraiu rrc in Africa." i\[111011 A11.1 2'.I, uu. 3 (1990): tice of modcljug the face of a sern11d-buria l cl'fig\ a fter rhat of a c hild who
35-'.16: see :tlso Uorg-.mi and Richard Brillian1. Ukt'llf» mul 81J<111d: Portrnil> closelv resembles the dt'ceased. A >inrilar 1radi1ion has been recorded in
fru111 Ajnr11 a11d1/1r \\'mid (New York: Center for African Ari, 1990). Benm Cit\'. Accord ing lO .i legend. l\.ing Ewtrnre or the 15t h Cl'nlur) o nce
92. For ill11s1.r.11iom. 'cc Willett, 1967. colorpls. \. 11. pl. 62. commissioned tl1e roral bra>S caster and woodcar1cr guile!' to make hi'
9:~. See Pe te r S. Garl:tkc, " Ei.cav:uions a t O bal;ir;i's La nd, !IC: An Interim po nm it. The wood can er' poru~1yed him as ht· real!} lookecl in o ld agc-,
Rl·port," a ;.1·1 i\jmw1 jo11m11/ of A rrhrmilog)' 6 ( 197·1): J.11-48: a nd Eyo and whereas 1he brass casters dcpiclt'd hirn as a mnrh vo 11ng<>r man. King Ewu arc
Willett. fig. 30. was displeased ''~ 1 h the woodcan:cr~ and dernc•tt' d 1hem. Sec Borgatti and
9-l. Gar lat..e (a• in n. 93), 146. For other rc prcscnta1ions of di.eased persons Brilliant (as in 11. 91 ), 32. quoting Be n-Amos (as in n. 73). For a discussion of
in lie art. sec Willell. 1967, 63. pl. IO. figs. 7, 8. the concept in othc1 pans of Africa. •ee ll10111pso n (as in 11. -18). S-7. II
9.'i. Garlakc (as in n. 93). should be noted. howeH' r. that not all Yo rnba repre•entations emphas.itc the
96. O mo1.o so Eluyemi, "New Terracotta Finds at O kc-Es6. lw:· 1Vrictm J\rti prime of life. l n the ed1w iig_Mni. a pair of male a nd f('malc brass lib<t•res that
9, no. I ( 1975): 31. See al•o Wille tt. 1967, 68. serves as an emblcnt of 1hc Ogboni socit•1v. tl1c stress is on maturity. It signifies
97. According 10 Rm, land Ahiodun. the heads represented in this haskct the desire of ruembl.'rs for long life and prosperi11. ce Lawal (as in n. 18).
urn~ be th()SC of"strn11gns." sincr it was forbidclrn in anciem tim es to sacrifice
37-38.
:~11 (>wo indigcne in local shrin<'•. cc RO\\•land Abiodun. "Tiu: Kingdom of 115. For more on Yoruba l\\'in m em o rials. SC<' 11. 10-1 abm·e.
Owo," in Drewnl e1 al.. .IO I. I I ti. Abioclun. 8.
98. Fo1 details. •e<· B.1bawnde L 1wal. "From Africa to the !'\cw Wor Id: An in 117. See Lawal, 197·1, 245.
Yornba Religion." in .\1111/rrifl A~<tlietit.1 in Collln11/J11m1'' Lntin . \111mrn11 Art, eel. 118. lllm1.ra1ed in L.1wa l, 199G. 236-37.
Arturo Lind <a1 (W:t!>hingto11, D.C.: Smithsonian lrmillltio11 P1 ess, 1996). 119. Fo1 more on Yoruba masks. see Drewal cl al.. p11w111.
120. Frank Willen, 4J11rr111 .\rt, re\ . ed. (Ne" York· 11iame;, •llld I luclson.
:~:Ii.
1993), 2 12-13.
99. Richard I.aw, /'hr Oyti E111p111'. 1. 1600-r. /8)6: ,\ \\ht African !i11p~1in/1,1111
121. For more o n Yoruba c rowm, sec Robe rt F. Thompson, "1lre Sign or
in /hf i:;,,, 11{ /he : lllm1ti1 Sim·~ T1fllh• (Oxford: Ox.ford University Press. 1977).
the Divine King: Yoruba Beaded-Em broidered Crowns with \ 'cil and Bird
32-33.
Decormions." in Frnser and Cole (:lS in n. 88). 227-60; and Lilli Beier. l 'oni/Jll
I 00. Bc·icr. 31. l ndrc·d. the frequcnn of the equestrian warrior 111otir in
Brnded Crm11111: Sarmf Hrgnlin oflhP Ol1ilwkri ofOkuku (London: Ethnographica.
Sango·~ oiiki reflec ts the ciitical 1olc played b' th(' cavalrv in 1he hnda)S of
1982).
the O lcl Oyo empire. between the I 71h a nd 19th cen turies, when its kings
122. Citrd in Akinsola Akiwowo, .-ljobi anti .i1ugbr: \ "m7alwns 011 th1• 77w1111 o/
(n,/hi/111 ) com rolkd n good pa11 of nonhern and southwestern Yornbaland.
So11111i1111 (lie-lie . Nigeria: Uni\'crsitv o r lfC Press. 1983). I J. See also L;iwal (as
We a rc also reminckcl of the im portance <11tad1cd 10 :ur go·~ apotheosis
inn. 101). 23-2-l.
d uring the period wheu his \'ener.11 ion as an am·e~ 1 or was elevated to a state
123. ec. for ins1ann:. ldowu, 81-85.
religio n (transforming him into a dcit' [tin\ii] a nd rnany S,;ngo p1ics1s serwd
121. Polished stone axes and iron tool• arc sacred to Ogirn. \U)l"gcs1ing th:11
a; mi. <ollector"> or resident gowrnors in 1rib11t:.11) kingdoms. For more
tbc one preceded tht' 01!1er in hrs iconograph1. _
clc 1.ai 1'. SP<" L.~w (.is in 11. 99) . 10·1; and Monon-Williams (ns in rl. 18).
125. E. ~ I. Lijaclu. lfri: !mow ,.,: 11 '"' lp;1; M 11 11i /Ir fo111ba (Ado Ekiti. Nigeria:
Hl I. WJ.T. Mitchell, Picl11rf '/1w111~: fu.1fl)'~ 1111 \ 1rrhn/ t111d I '111.n/ NP/1rese11lfltio11
St."lndard Press. 1908). 35. Yo111ha rext: "l'!je bi a bit te mi. ngo tim 'ra 111i 1c
(Chicago: L:nhersil) of Chicago Press. 1 99~ ) . KS-89. I-le defines "imagetext" Ee1>0 ti a ha k:'1 flm mi. ngo goo I Tile la ti: mi. ngo 1im 'ra mi 1<·:
a> a " 'ort.. that combines image and text.
126. ldowu. 60; and Wole SO\inka . .1/11/i, J.1trm/11w "'"'//JP .\f11rr111 \\'m id
I 02. Philip 'v\11eelwrigln, 11.trlaphor """ Rrr1/it_1 (Bk1omingto11. Ind.: India na (Camlnidge: Camb1idge t:nin~rsi 1 1 Press. 1976). 10.
Uniw1>it1 Press. 1968). 9-l -95. 127. For detajb. M'e K.1.rin Barbt'r. "Ila" Man ~ l al..cs God in \\'est Africa:
103. Ro hen F. Tho urpson. "'Sons nfl'hundcr. Twin Images of 1hr Yoruba.'' Yonrha AtLitudc., 1oward.s the Orisil," J\jjim, j o11mfll "} /'11• /111n·1111t11111fll tlfrir1111
.\ frirt111 A111 7, no. 3 ( 1971 ): 8-9. fn.<lilule 51. no. 3 ( 198 1): 72-l- 15.
10 I. For more o n Yonrba twin 111c·1no1ials. sec ibid., 8-13. 77-80: 1loulbe rg 128. nil' Omo Od1id11wti doctriue as<umcd a new aspect 111 19~3 when
(a> in 11. -l I). 20- 27. 91-92: Marcicli Stall. Gert 'wll. and Ulrich 1'.lever. ibtJi: Yonrba students in Londou fonnerl the £gW Omo Otl1id1111•11 (Odi1duwa De-
7.111if/i11g'.}1gurm llPT l'o111bfl/ Twi11 />lg1m< <if thr l 'amba (Munich: U) the a m hors, •Cenda11ts' Club), a cultural organit:uion chnrgcd with the rc•po11sibili1v of
1980): and Ba ba 1u1ule La\\~11 , "A Pair of t1~ il11j1' (T\\~n S1a1 u<·ttcs) in the advancing 1he rn11sc or the Yorub;i in colonial Nigcna11 politics. The organi-
1'.re~g<' An Museum," Kmge ,\/111m111 .\ rt l111f/P/1114l. 110. I ( 1989): 9 1-103. m1io11 c-e11111all1 cl<:,cloped in10 ,, political part\ (the now cll-funct Acrion
IO!i. Arcording to om: Yoruha lt>j.tend. l\\~n s W<'rc firs t born in Yornbalancl Group) whose membership inc:luded non-Yo111ba 1><)liticians. The leader of
at h ot..t'rn ' 'ilL,gc in Old 0)6. the part\'. ChiefObaferni Awo lowo, \\'as fon d of wearing a special hat that soon
IO(i. n 1<' Yonrba associate twins with the colohtL• 111011 t..e1 berausc this becaml' fa shiu 11ablt' among his follmvers. e nabling the m to projt>ct a common
ani ma l ofl e n gives hir th to two bahies a1 a time. iden1i1v ,11 par1v rall ic• and co11ven1i(111s. See Arifalo (as inn. 12). 72.
107. r radition req uires mothers of rwins to dance frcq ue nl.l) in public in 129. .Jacques u 1c<111. 'f'lu• Frmr Fi111dn111m111/ C:tJ11u•p1s of Psyrlw-, \ 11fll)'sis. ed.
honor of tht'i1 Ii\ i11g c hildren or to appcast' tlw souls of deceased t1,ins. On J acques-Alain Miller. 1rans. Alan Sheridan (New York: W.W. Nonon. 198 1).
such ona,,ions. the' .trc showered with gifL• of a ll kinds h) relati\'e< and 130. fbid .. 67-119. For a recem review of the lit<'r•nure on Lhe g;w ., M'e
cmlool..er"'I to e na ble tht>m 10 m ce1 the l'Xp<' nsc~ of t.,king care of them<clves Margarer Olin. "Ga1<•." in Crit,,11/ l i'l711.<fm Art l/1s/o"'· ed. Roben F. Ncbon
and the ch ild re n. and Richard Sh iff (Chicago: l:nivcrsit' o l Chicai;o Pre>s, 1996). 208-HI.
I08. 0. Dara111o la and A..Jcjc. A1111111 th1i11ti (J1i11i 11,; )'nni/111 (ib:lchin . Nii;cria: l '.~ L f'IH· word ln111 (sprn aclc) •hn11lcl not be conlnsed with hem (genera-
O n ibon-Oje Boot.. lnd ns11ies. 19(i7). 282-83. tfon) or ;,.,,,, (the tail of a tortoise), neu though 1he three word> ha'e the
IO!l. Acrnrding to the m1·th, th<' . 11prcme !king withdrc\\ t his pri"ilcge, <arnc pronunciatfon.
rc plaring i1 \\ith clf'a lh . 1:~2. l...;iwal (as in n. 118). 39. Yoruba 1cxt: ·o """' mi. mo 1111 (1 6 . Tani
110. See also lclowu. l!l. There i< a ll'ndc 11n among Lire Yoruba to regard SCU il 11i n l"1 aid \\'t\ :·
as l"mhod im c11 t' of ancien1 a nces1urs sculp1urc< accide11mllv washed 0111 of 133. See lclowu. 20f>: :1.11d O la1u1ui (as in n. 2Hl . i9. F,1irlv 11at11ralistic
the grnund hy noud> or recon·r«d in the cour~tt ol laving build ing fo uncla· memorials also orcur 011 the superstructures of GC-l&cle headdrc>S<'• d uring ,,
tiom. Such sculpu11 <'' a rc uso1<1ll1 placed on a ha r"< with a dew 10 harnc>1>ing special farewell cc1·e111on1• intender! to 1.erminat<' th<> panicip:uio n or a d t~
the •piri111al po"·cr of thl' so ul~ thev reprcsc111. ·n u• town of Esie, about n ine!\ c<>as<'d member in 1hc ann ual ff'•timb.
miles 1'10111 ire. ha< m ore than eight hundred such >1011e fig11 rt's. The prt»cnr 13-l. See Abiocl11n (as in 11. 9i), pl. 103.
inhabitan ts of 1hc 101vn claim tha1 th<'ir a nccsron. fo und 1hc sculptures in 1hc 135. Having grown up in. and traveled thronghoul. Yonrb.1la nd. I ha\(:
1own whe n they first se11led there in the 18th ct•nmrv, so 1hcst• ligurcs a rc wit u cs~ecl several S< 'C011d-burial rere monics in\'olving na1urnli<1 ic mcrno·rials
H'rll'rated as peu-ified abo1·iginc<. For mo re ck1ails. sec Allison (as in n. 3ti). such .1~ iihci. i/Jiidr. tijryr. :111d related forms. like tht· Eyo Acl<11ni1orisa (Evo)
21-21 : and Phillip< StcH'ns. '/'hr S/011r '"'"/!."' of Bi;. .\'igm11 (New York: <·ffig- of Lagos. l ghogbo, and ljeh1'1. L' nfortn11ate h. mos1 of these oppon11ni·
African:r. 1978). tie• prcdaled rm rc·•earch int(' rt''t in th<' snl~ect. ~ l ure recenrh . I cncoun-
526 \RT Bll l I ~ I i ' 51:.P H \l llFR 20111 \Ol l~l l:. I XXXll l Nt"~IK~ R :l

ter<"cl m ite r ceremon ic• whil<" 011 social \•isiis to •om r 1ow11> bu t h ad no camera l 55. Stevens (a.< in n . 9). J !l~ .
o n nw 10 n ·corcl them . 156. Oluclarr 0 1.yuhu and J.R.O. Ojo. ··Some 1\s pec1S ol 0 \'0 Yoru ba :'ll<t>-
I 36. 1lowe\cr. the Yornba belt cw· 1ha1 the soul o l a dccra.«' <I pa1e 11t c.111 he qucradt'<," :V1im, /ormwl of thr Ill/YI notimwl .1fiirr111 histi/11/~ 4 7, 110. 3 ( I 97il:
reincarnated a• a grand ch ild an d brgin a n ew life on eanl1. Llw:il (:t> i11 11 . 269.
5 1), 50-61. 15i. The 1erm <)m111h1i a ll udco 10 lhC' unsCl'ah lr.
137. For illus1m 1ions. <cc U lli fl r ier. ti Silll)' flf.\ arml Wood (."m11111gsf11>111 0 111• 158. Solo111ou 0. B;ibayerni. /·.pi11g1i1111111n11gtilr01ri l 'on1b11 (i bad :m. Nigeria:
Smnll !'0111/m Town (Lago•: Nigerian Printing a11d P11blishing Compam·, I 9:;7). Board P11 hlir:11io11~. 1980), 8-9 (uam.). Yoruba 1ext: "!\hi fo jir ka n mi
138. Sec Bice flc 11\cnu10 a nd Roger Ken nedy, "/71r ilork111f/11rq11,5 /,11m11: An E nlkan ~o gbodo frtiir 1...rn 0 1o mbo :\ijo Agan h•i j>idc os;i11 I lgi a ma 116
/uinHlucrion (Londo n : Fo<'e Associatio n Boo ks. 1986), 53-:iS. ht igi. ope a ma w{1!11 opt- I l gbo ;\ m .1jomi raglMagb;i I Odau a >i jon :i trrlowii
139. T h e imvard look o n 1h c face of certain a lrnr •r11lpt11rc:s h as led some tc ri 11vii / A dif:i ff111 :.1ar<~i1kan mi I Ti i j c Ai,,..n:· Solomon lbbaye111i
sch o l:11s to com pue it to th <' co11 11 tc 11;u1ce o f devotees poss("~ed bv a cleit1. tra nsl:urs 1h e m1111c l\litfojttkitnmi fi g11raLivelJ a~ "\'ou m ust n o r sPc 111v face:·
1 10. 1 a 111 grateful Lo C lticl lfavrrni F.lcbu1ui bo n . a fa 111011s O•ogbo-ba•ed \\'hich i' .. 01 reel. But I prefer Lit<' li 1ernl r.rmslaLio11 o l Lite n ame. "h ich tS "llo
Yoruba di\•in e r, for thawing Ill) an r ntion to this saving ta ~e n from the n o r •f't 1our crcs o n m e .
d i, i11.1tion \'c r,,c· ( /dt/1<111}, in an inreniew o n .Ju ly 6, 1998. 159. Pe ter J\.1011011-\\' illiarm, "Tlw l:.gim gun Soriecr i11 Sou1 h-Wcs1c rn
I IJ. For Yo ruba rl rn nis 111ean1 to al.lt1Kl posiri1·r git£cs. '<'<' Da\'id A.A
Yor uhn Ki11gdur1"," in l'w1erdi11g1 of 1/11• Th.nd A111111al Co11ji•11•11n• "/ lllP \·Vt"r
1\ dc n iji, Ofo /{('rP (Ibadan . ~ig<'ri a: Univcr>it}' o l' lbad :'tn Press, l!J82).
Ajrir1111 l111riru11• of Sorial and Rnmomir UPsewtlt (i haclan, Nigeria: \.VAIS[R,
1·12. Adeboyr Habalola, "Ot.inje Ojt1," Olok1m 9 ( 1970): 39: " Ki r a 11pc l"onjr
1956). 95. I had a ;,irnilao cxpericn a· as a chi ld gro\\'in g up i11 \ 'ontbaland. In
<!iii? Ki 1'6 11>'<'> ojl1 hi olvl Li m6 iki111? / Ojt• ko r<uue m i'ji b fko;;e ir:u 1....
some towns. th e souud o f h ull roarers fori>J would fill tl 1e air as th r p roceS>io11
~ leji pat<iki n'ir(tlc IC I ld:in , l'lri>i inm ni I Ewa. ori,j ir:rn rnf r e,,; Oji• ki frcwi1
mm·cd fo 0111 one ward LO an mhcr, as if ddi b<•rntcl)• im endccl 10 ,111•dkc th e
i.·u 111M1~ii / 1'.t1ia l.i iko aclambic:gbin k'6m a 11•0 6 .... I "F.egl111 11pid:in roj :\,
1111i11i1i:u cd. stressing the fac1 of th eir excl usion. In som e casc,, ,, ~acred imag<'
cui•
je :1 lo w6 u:· I Onjc· 1:t re fi f11 11 1111.. . ...
oml\' be broug h t o ut in d aylii.:hc b111 conccalrtl . An10 11g the U<'b i1 subgroup.
1-13. For dc1:1ils, S<.'<' La\\'al (as in 11. J 18). 39 n . 3. 128-29.
l·H. The word gb11j1i111n ca11 be• et\ lllolob.;zcd as igbn (1110 lrnndrt'd). oj1i women arr 1101 alluwcd to see the charm o f tht· :\gemo m ask•. e1·en in ,1
(fac('s or e1es). a 11cl 1111i (know). co11cl'aled lom1, h cc-ame of il'> me lo rcinforcr till' patri;irc hal •Ocial svsu ·rn.
1 13. Ahr~o harn (as in n. 3), 6ll7. Women .1rc rhrrC'lot t• ""'rn t>d i11 .1dvanrt> 10 ~l:t) indoor-.;: "Qri,:1 i' r r~ading
l ·Hi. cc Willbm Bascom. Tltf l'o111/i11 •!fS1111llHt!f'<f1'111 l\'if{n'i11 (NP\\ \'o rk: I lo ll L11c high wa)S / 1.o rd of Li fe / \.\'ho rlart"I beh o ld him? I \\~10 rlarc' <ca n th e
a nd Wimw11, 19()9). 11 l. lcn11 11·rs 11f the god! I A ch ancr g lance. a ch ,111ct' deaLh ! I Sw1· llin g~ 0 11 your
147. ld owu , 77 (1ra11s.). Yoruba text: "113 t<' jlt 1116 mi l.i o wo 111i ·re I Bin body lih· ript• m m ! I Glim11 11·1 ing <hadow! / .\ s11rr<'p1 i1iou ' !-(lance, a
ha re ji1 m 6 "ni 1:1 1'6wc) l'low6 Lli o ba te ]It ono "11i l<i ri'oe." su rr q>tilious d eath." St•t• J o h n Pe111 bcrton . ··1 he King a 11d the Ch ameleon :
I 18. In h er· review o f th e lite1<Hu1 e o n d ie subjtu. :.1a1g:11er O liu (as in 11. Odim ,\g<'rno." !fr:. \ 1111n/1 of f/U' ft111111t1;· of Cu/111wl S1111/1r> (Obafcm i .\ wolo11·0
130). 209, 110 Lcs, ···1 here is usual h· som e 1hi11g 11q,<:1 u v<' abo ul tlot· gate"' usetl L:11ive1-.;i1). lfi-) 2 ( 1988): 52. In o th<'r rascs. a sacrc·d image may bl' >een b) th <'
in an rh co!)·:· T his may pan!) he due to a11 c111phasis o n lh t' · , ·vii eye" i11 ge11era l p 11b lic b 111 1101 at d ose ra nge. A A'oocl exa111p k is rh r h t'addrt'ss of t h i:
.Judco-C:htis1ia11 tho ug ht. According to J acq ues Lacan (as i11 n . 129), 115, lyii 111a>k. which rq>r<'s<'nts Lill' C.rc·.11 !l loth er amon g tht: Ke1u and Egbad o
wh rn.c th cof} is a omyor infh 1cnc<' o n co111emptJ1<U) hem1cncu1irs of th e !\<Ill", subgro up,. The mas ~ '"na lh c-om c~ ou t at nig h t during the an n ual Gcli'rlc
"1h c 1e i, n o Lrnce a n"~here o f a good e)c." In hi5 words ( 11 8-19). -Tlw eH· ICsth<1l 1ha1 ;, lreld i11 h er honor. \\11c11 the m as k appears in the clan rr arena,
ma) he prophl'htclk, i1 can not be bcncfir<"n l- il is rnaleficem. 111 th<' Bihk all lig h1 < 111 us1 be ci.tin~u i s h erl . Fo o details. see l lcn"'J. Drcwal, "A11 a 11d the
and even in th(' New Testam e nt. there is n o good C')'l" b u t there an' c111 l'Y<'' Peoccptiu 11 o f Wom c 11 in Yo ruba Cuhurr," C11/iin1 tl"Jit1u/P., lV11mi111·1 17, 110. "I
:111 oveo the- place ." T he cxist<'ll<'<' am ong th e Yoruba of tltc norion o l a good ( 1977): 553.
eve (oj1i rfrt or nj1i 1i1/111i) contradicts this assu11 1ption an d rnlls for a rnorC' J 60. Similar tniditions of rn11ceal111cm ha1·e bci:n obsrn·ed in otlw r paru. ol
opc11-mind ed ap proach LO th e .ubjecr. For a critiq ue o f Lhe paranoid irn p lt- Africa and arc cxrmplilied b1 Lhc sa<alled acomric- masl...s, wh ich appc.ir 0 11ly
catio11< o f the Lacnni.111 rheo!) o l th e g-<1zc. SC'<' Nonna 11 Bn·,on . " I h e C.:az<' in at n ight. u sing sou11 tl ratlwr th an lisibility l O iru lkate tltc ir s11p<'r·na t111~1l
th e Expanded Field," i11 \ 'i1ir111 011rl il.11.rnlir_1•: IJ1lctt.1Si011.t i11 <:mit1·m/Jorm'1 Culrw,., power. For cktails, see Rosalind IJ. Hack<.:ll, Arr 1111d lleliKirm in 1Viim (New
N I. 1hll Foster (Seattle: Bay Pres$, 1988), 10 ,1-8. Yo rk: C;issdl, 1996) , 55-56: :J11rl Ftlward Lif5ch ilL. "1-l<':u·ing ls Bclic\'in g:
1-19. As a result, llanet)', drumming. da11d11~. and commcmomtil'<· cli,plal's Aco 11'lic Asp ects o l :.tasking in \ II irn." in Hi·11 •\f1irr111 M111/11 11111/ C11lt11111/
a rc 011<'11 t•111plmctl 10 in 011enn· tit<' clcitici. in Yoru ba relig ion. as Andrc· w S~:ilmtS, ed . Siclne1· L Kasfio (T1c1·urc n : Jl.lmee Raval<' cle l'Afrique Centrale.
Apter h:t> righ tlv o l»1•r,ed. &'.c h i< /J/Jirk Critit' 11111/ Kin~: The 1l rm1en1•11lzc5 u( 1988). 22 1-27.
Pouwr 111 l 0111/Ja .\(J(il'l.Y (Chicngo: U11iwrsicy of Chicago Pre'" 19921. 99. For 16 1. Sin n· such an inoage is onacle :11 the b q.,.;nni11g of ;111 rtliirtj11t"< 1tign. 0 11 <'
0Lh e 1 im p licatio n s o f 1h c fact: i11 Yoruba ;m , sec Lawal (a> in 11. 28), 9 1- 10:1.
ca n 0 11ly wonder wh eth er o r n o t a si111il.tr m 11li1icin o btain r d i11 ;111cict1t ! !(-
l 150. Wa nde ,\ bimbola, Si.W m1 (;1w11 Ptll'llh of lfti (Zaria , Nigt·t i,1: L' NESC:O.
with whid1 the tile-size bra.ss heads """ be ,1ssociaccd, one w;iv o r the otl1er.
19i:i), 233. That th e other imw (d ei ties) d cpe11d on £s1'.1 lo1 ,;,;on is mo<l
162. Sometim es. a frarnecl p h o1oh•np h of Lhe clrn·a,t'd 111.11 be c.1rried in a
cvid c-m in th e ico nogra ph) of 11.i, th <' di vim1tio11 dci1y. M.O>l d i,·in arion ll-:1\'
p u blic parad <' h <•fr11 e 1ltc corp>e 1> inrcrrccl; in 01lrc' 1 rnse>. photograph~ .ue
(op1i11 lfti) h a"'' at lt·•c.t onc stylized lace •aid 10 1ep1csc111 !Stt, enabling lf:i 111
caniccl in a p11hlk po occ~s i on during an nu.ti 111t·111orial celt'brnrion•. Fut
reveal the past a nd forc1d l t11c fu111re. See a lso Ba•rono (as 11 1 11. '.ti), 3'1: and
il111<1rn1io11s. sci· M ug~ rc;t T. D rr1val, l'orub11 Rit111tl: l 'nji11111er.1, /'lay, Ag<''"''
Ilan s Witte. "ff,;_ Trays fro m 6~ogbo a n d lji:bl1 R1·gions."' in Abiudu n ct .11..
( Bloo111i11gron. ln rl.: l11cli.i11a Unil'c.:r,irv Pres.. 199•1). fig. 3.1. Fo r Westcr 11
58-77.
iu flu en cc• on co n1 r n1ponm Yorub~ p o rr r.ti U.trt', 'cc idern , "f'onraitu rc.: and
15 1. Abr.1h a m (a• in u. 3), 667.
152. For a >Llr\'CV, src \ la11 11. Nooter, ed .. \rrr1ry: 1Vri11111 ,\ 11 Thar Cmwnl:i tlw Coomrucu o n o l Realir' in Yon.1bala11cl a11d lk)ond ." Afri1a11A11s23. n o. 3
1111tl H1..ral:i (New York: Museum of Afoican Art; Munic h: Pn·swl, 1993). ( 1990) : 40-.J!J, JOI . Sl't' a lso S1cpht'11 F. Sp rnl{Llc. "\'0111ba PhutuA'rnph r: H ow
153. Su.an Vogel. /3111Lir: ilfntn11 Arl/ \Vesf1•111 l~.\'PJ (Nc1" llavrn: Ya le U nivcr- th e• Yoouba Sec T hem<ehcs." A/11a111Aris 12, no. I ( 1978): 52-5\l, 1()7.
siw l'n·"· l997), 110. 163. St·c Dre11~1l . I990 (as i11 11. 162). 1 0- ~!l.
J 3·1. Arcorcli11g lo popular be lieI. shorl h a ll<·• it> a bandonmem at lh<' l<H. Spmguc: (a> i11 11 . 162). 5i.
cro;sroacb. a >Cconcl-burial effi1,') wou ld m omen ta• ilv lw a11i111,ncd b" the I 65. Ih id. ee aho I lo u lberg (as in n. ~ I ). 26-27; an d idem. "(',01Jcni11g t he:
ghl»t of the dcc-eascd ;111cl its eye'> '"ould be filled with 1e;1rs as the m our 11crs An1 hr o p ulog1 oL\fr iC'an An,- ,\fnrm1A1t19. 110 . 3 ( 19i6): 18-19: S1i.a 11 \'ogcl ,
n:ll 11 n home. If Ll1c cffigi is buri<-cl , th e g h•» l "'o uld stand o n th e spot, sadlJ e d .. llf1im l~''fJ/11m: 21Jrh !.mtwy .\fnrn11 A11 ( New \'o rk: Ccn1c 1 fu o /\fr ic~ n 1\i t:
st:u 'iotg at the r110 11rners. Tr.1d irion c 1uoim th<' 1no u rners 110 1 10 look b:1rk Mu n ich: l'rcstel. 199 1), 4 1- 17: and O lu Og11ih1'. '" Photcl1,'raphy an d the
aftc1 disposi ng of 1hc effigy; " 'l10c1·c1 doc< ~o ' ""' the risk of seeiug the tearful Sub>tanct• o f tilt' lom1gc," in ft1 / Sil(ht: tVnmn l'lt1Jl111,~·11plwts, J'i/O ro tltr Ponl'lll
face o l the figurt' 01 the g h ost a nd would s ubsrq11en 1I} dk if certain propi- (:\cw York: Gugi~c11 h c11n 1\ l usc.:u1 11 , 1996). 213- 16.
tia101y lites wet c 1101 p c t fo n 11ed. 11\6. Ho ulbcrl{ (a~ in n . 16:i). 18.
Copyright of Art Bulletin is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or
emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.