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Olowe of Ise
Nigerian, (ca. 1875 - ca. 1938)
Veranda Post, 1910-1914
Nigerian Sculpture
Wood
56 in. x 132 in. x 10 in. (142.24 cm x 335.28 cm x 25.4 cm), maximum
Marion Stratton Gould Fund, 71.13
Currently on View
The Memorial Art Gallery's veranda post was originally located in the palace of the Ogoga of Ikere, who ruled one of the Ekiti kingdoms in northeastern Yorubaland. One of a group that may have originally supported the veranda roof, the post is beautifully carved from a single piece of wood. It is in the form of a woman, with two smaller female figures standing in front of her. The woman is most likely one of the wives of the king; it has been suggested that the smaller figures are her twin daughters. Beneath the post's capitol, the woman's hair is intricately coiffed. Her face, back and neck are decoratively scarified in distinctive patterns. Her breasts, signifying fertility and nurture, are prominent. The symmetry of the sculpture as well as the treatment of the eyes and mouth are consistent with the highest standards of Yoruba aesthetics.
The Yoruba people live in southwestern Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. Historically, they were ruled by kings and lived in groups that were affiliated loosely by language and religion. The kings were clothed in lavishly beaded costumes and lived in palaces with elaborately carved doors and veranda posts. While entire families were often dedicated to creating palatial sculpture, in the case of the Memorial Art Gallery's veranda post, only the artist Olowe of Ise was awarded the commission.
Olowe of Ise was not born into a family of woodcarvers, but somehow learned the techniques that he needed and found his work to be sought after by Yoruba kings as well as by the British Museum. He is considered to be the most innovative Yoruba artist of the twentieth century, and his work is in distinguished collections around the world.
Olowe of Ise was recently the subject of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art. This recognition is the long-overdue first step in the process of uncovering the names and oeuvres of many overlooked African artists.
[Wall text, undated]
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