Ere ibeji figure

Museum number:
5-14944a-c
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm210514944a@2dc
Alternate number:
2021A (original number)
Accession number:
Acc.4348
Description:
One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).
Donor:
Berta Bascom
Collection place:
Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria
Verbatim coll. place:
Africa; Nigeria; Oyo.
Culture or time period:
Yoruba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1951
Materials:
Iron (metal) and Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Ere ibeji
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Accession date:
August 5, 1988
Context of use:
One figure was carved when a twin died and it was fed as long as the parents or the other twin lived; a pair indicates that neither twin survived childhood. The use of beaded garments was reserved to the Yoruba Kings (Oba), and the facial marks are those of the lineage of the Alafin, King of Oyo, the capital of the largest and most powerful Yoruba kingdom.
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
height 34.925 centimeters
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 2 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 3 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 4 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 5 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 6 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 7 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 8 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 9 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 10 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Hearst Museum object 11 of 11 titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Ere ibeji figure, accession number 5-14944a-c, described as One of pair of royal twin figures (ibeji).

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