Yoruba art#History

In the period around 800CE the artists at Ife developed a refined and naturalistic sculptural tradition in terracotta, stone and copper alloy—copper, brass, and bronze— many of which appear to have been created under the patronage of King Obalufon II, the man who today is identified as the Yoruba patron deity of brass casting, weaving and regalia.{{cite book|last=Blier|first=Suzanne Preston|title=Art and Risk in Ancient Yoruba: Ife History, Politics, and Identity c. 1300|date=2015| publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107021662}}

There have been a series of Yoruba kingdoms over the past nine centuries. The Ife Empire was the earliest of these; It had cultural influence over the Oyo, Owo, and Benin kingdoms, whose royal courts are said to have learned their art from Ife masters. Early art-historical and archaeological records reinforce these strong affiliations with Ife culture as far back as the 14th century.{{cite web |title=Origins and Empire: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/beni_2/hd_beni_2.htm |access-date=8 July 2022 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History)}}

Yoruba kingdoms prospered until the slave trade and warfare of the nineteenth century took their toll. One of the effects of this devastation was the dispersal of millions of Yoruba all over the world. This resulted in a strong Yoruba character in the artistic, religious and social lives of Africans in the New World.

Henry Drewal, John Pemberton and Rowland Abiodun propose the following stages in the development of art in Ife:

• Archaic Era, before 800 CE
• Pre-Pavement Era, 800–1000
• Early Pavement Era, 1000–1200
• Late Pavement Era, 1200–1400
• Post-Pavement Era, 1400 – {{Circa|1600}}
• Stylized Humanism Era, {{Circa|1600}} – present{{Cite book |last1=Drewal |first1=Henry |title=Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought |last2=Pemberton |first2=John |last3=Abiodun |first3=Rowland |publisher=Center for African Art in association with Harry Abrams Publishers |year=1990 |location=New York |pages=46}}{{Cite book |last=Akintoye |first=S. Adebanji |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZcQEAAAQBAJ |title=A History of the Yoruba People |publisher=Amalion Publishing |year=2014 |location=Dakar |pages=64–65|isbn=9782359260274 }}

The custom of art and artists among the Yoruba is deeply rooted in the Ifá literary corpus, indicating the orishas Ogun, Obatala, Oshun and Obalufon as central to creation mythology including artistry (i.e. the art of humanity).{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

In order to fully understand the centrality of art (onà) in Yoruba thought, one must be aware of their cosmology, which traces the origin of existence (ìwà) to a Supreme Divinity called Olódùmarè, the generator of ase, the enabling power that sustains and transforms the universe. To the Yoruba, art began when Olódùmarè commissioned the artist deity Obatala to mold the first human image from clay. Today, it is customary for the Yoruba to wish pregnant women good luck with the greeting: May Obatala fashion for us a good work of art.{{cite book |author=Babatunde Lawal |authorlink=Babatunde Lawal |title=Embodying the sacred in Yoruba art: Selections from the Newark Museum Collection |year=2007 |publisher=Keen University |location=Union, N.J. |isbn=978-1-932543-20-9 |url=https://www.kean.edu/media/embodying-scared-exhibitions}}{{failed verification|date=January 2025|reason=It says no such thing!}}

The concept of ase influences how many of the Yoruba arts are composed. In the visual arts, a design may be segmented or seriate—a "discontinuous aggregate in which the units of the whole are discrete and share equal value with the other units."{{cite journal |last1=Drewal |first1=M. T. |last2=Drewal |first2=H. J. |title=Composing Time and Space in Yoruba Art |journal=Word and Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry |year=1987 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=225–251 |doi=10.1080/02666286.1987.10435383}} Such elements can be seen in Ifa trays and bowls, veranda posts, carved doors, and ancestral masks.

File:Ife sculpture Inv.A96-1-4.jpg|Ife head, terracotta, probably 12–14th centuries; height: 15.5 cm (6 in.)

File:Afrikaabteilung in Ethnological Museum Berlin 02.JPG|Bust of a king or dignitary; 12th–15th century AD; terracotta; Ethnological Museum of Berlin (Germany); discovered at Ife (Nigeria)

File:Brooklyn Museum L54.5 Fragment of a Head (3).jpg|Brooklyn Museum, Fragment of an Ife Head

File:Vessel MET DT6613.jpg|Ceremonial Ivory vessel

File:Flickr - Nic's events - London - 14-15 Dec 2007 - 258.jpg|Decorated Panel Door

File:Female figure from Oke Onigbin, Shango Shrine.jpg|Female figure from Oke-Onigbin, Shango shrine.

File:Africa Ife Head 2 Kimbell.jpg|Head, probably of a king; 12th–14th century; terracotta; 26.7 × 14.5 × 18.7 cm (10.5 × 5.7 × 7.3 in.); Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, Texas, USA)

File:Yoruba peoples armlet (16th century).jpg|Yoruba peoples armlet (16th century)

File:Brooklyn Museum 22.1526 Door Ilekun.jpg

File:Brooklyn Museum 1997.165 Staff Opa Orisha Oko.jpg

The Orí-Inú, or the inner spiritual head, is very important to the Yoruba people. One's Orí-Inú is very important in terms of existing in the world. The priority goes to the Orí for any household. Thus, shrines are built in the houses. An Orí is visually represented through symbolic items within sacrifice or rituals, or more common in houses, would be terra cotta head figures. The Orí can usually determine the outcome of life for each person. Before being put into earth, each person must select their own Orí. Ajala may sometimes produce bad Orí, which this may affect the lives of those people. Sacrifices and rites happen as well in order to satisfy Orí-Isese, which is the supreme ruler over all Orí. The primary functions for sacrifices are to ward off evil and bring in good fortune and happiness.{{Cite book|last=Abiodun|first=Rowland|title=Yoruba Art and Language: Seeking the African in African Art|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|location=New York|isbn=9781107047440}}

The issue of anonymity and authorship has long troubled the field of African art history, particularly as it relates to the political disparities between Africa and the West.{{cite book|last=Picton|first=John|title=The Yoruba artist : new theoretical perspectives on African arts ; [based on a 1992 symposium held at the Museum Rietberg Zürich]|year=1994|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=1560983396|chapter=Art, Identity and Identification: A Commentary on Yoruba Art Historical Studies|editor=Rowland Abiọdun|editor2=Henry J. Drewal|editor3=John Pemberton III|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/yorubaartistnewt0000unse}} Such information was, at least initially, rarely sought in the field and deemed unnecessary and even undesirable by many collectors. Susan Mullin Vogel has identified a further paradox. "[I]n their own societies," she writes, "African artists are known and even famous, but their names are rarely preserved in connection with specific works. ... More often than not, the African sculptor becomes virtually irrelevant to the life of the art object once his work is complete. ... Cultures preserve the information they value."{{cite journal|last=Vogel|first=Susan Mullin|title=Known Artists by Anonymous Works|journal=African Arts|date=Spring 1999|volume=32|issue= 1|pages=40, 42, 50|doi=10.2307/3337537|jstor=3337537 }}

The problem of anonymity in Yoruba art in particular is troubling in the context of Yoruba culture where "it is absolutely imperative for individuals to acknowledge each other's identity and presence from moment to moment, [and where] there is a special greeting for every occasion and each time of day."{{cite book|last=Abiọdun|first=Rowland|chapter=An African(?) Art History: Promising Theoretical Approaches in Yoruba Art Studies|title=The Yoruba artist : new theoretical perspectives on African arts ; [based on a 1992 symposium held at the Museum Rietberg Zürich]|year=1994|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=1560983396|editor=Rowland Abiọdun|editor2=Henry J. Drewal|editor3=John Pemberton III|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/yorubaartistnewt0000unse}}

Several Yoruba artists' names are known, including:

• Bangboshe of Osi Ilorin
• Bandele Areogun of Osi
• Master of Ikare
• Lamidi Fakeye
• Olowe of Ise

Yoruba blacksmiths create sculpture from iron, through hand-beating, welding, and casting. Ogun is honored as the god of iron.[http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/yoruba/blacksmith.html "Shaping: The Blacksmith."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110093453/http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/yoruba/blacksmith.html |date=November 10, 2011 }} Cutting to the Essence – Shaping for the Fire. 29 March 1995 (retrieved 15 November 2011)

Metalworkers also create brass sculptures by lost-wax casting. Brass is seen as being incorruptible by the Ogboni society.

File:IMG-20180922-WA0007 cropped.jpg|Bronze head from Ife; 12th-15th century; brass; British Museum (London)

File:Nigeria, yoruba, accette cerimoniali, da owo, xix-xx secolo.jpg|Ceremonial axes; 18th century; from Owo (Ondo state, Nigeria); Speed Art Museum (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)

File:Altar Ring MET vs1976 239.jpg|Ife altar ring,16th century, Brass or Copper alloy

File:Ife copper sculpture with cavalier figure.jpg|Copper alloy sceptre with horse-riding figure of a king or high-ranking noble of Ife, 12th –13th century CE. The vertical facial striation marks that typify early ife art is evident

Male onile figure, Yoruba people, Nigeria, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|Male figure (Onile); late 19th-early 20th century; cast bronze; Honolulu Museum of Art (Hawaii, USA)

Pair of staffs, male and female couple, Yoruba people, Honolulu Museum of Art, 5969.1.JPG|Pair of staffs (Edan Ogboni), male and female couple; 19th century; cast bronze and iron; Honolulu Museum of Art

File:Nigeria, yoruba, ventaglio cultuale del dio osun, XX sec.JPG|Brass fan (Abebe), one of the ritual objects associated with the Yoruba goddess, Osun

File:Bracelet MET DT6614.jpg|Ijebu brass bracelet depicting a ram head, 18th century

File:Arm band or vessel stand, Ijebu, Yoruba, 19th century AD, brass - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC02384.JPG|Brass arm band or vessel stand, Ijebu, Yoruba, 19th century

File:Beaded Ceremonial Sword and Sheath, Nigeria, Yoruba people, 20th century, beads, metal, fabric, coins, brass, cowery shells, leather - Chazen Museum of Art - DSC01812.JPG|Beaded sword and Sheath, Nigeria, Yoruba people; beads, metal, fabric, coins, brass, cowry shells, leather – Chazen Museum of Art

File:Brooklyn Museum 76.131.2 Staff Shango.jpg|Shango ceremonial staff, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum

File:Arm band, Owo, Yoruba, 18th century AD, ivory - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC02382.JPG|Arm band, Owo, Yoruba, 18th century AD, ivory – Ethnological Museum, Berlin

File:Brooklyn Museum 2011.4.1 Divination Tapper Iroke If.jpg|18th century ivory divination tapper (iroke ifa) from the Owo region. Brooklyn Museum

File:Vessel cover, Owo, Yoruba, 18th century AD, ivory - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC02378.JPG|Ivory vessel cover, Owo, Yoruba, (1700s)18th Century

MARKK C2406 Ijebu Ivory Arm Cuff, 18th century.

File:Armlets, Yoruba peoples, Owo region, Nigeria, 16th to 18th century, Ivory (2922782979).jpg|Ivory armlets, Yoruba peoples, Owo region of Yorubaland, 16th century. This particular pair may have been part of the Olowo's ceremonial attire

File:Arm band, Owo, Yoruba, 18th century AD, ivory - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC02381.JPG|Ceremonial arm band from Owo 18th century AD, ivory – Ethnological Museum, Berlin

File:Ceremonial sword fragment, Yoruba peoples, Owo region, Nigeria, Late 19th century, Ivory (2922783179).jpg|Ceremonial ivory sword fragment, Udamaloore, Owo,19th century

File:Cabeza Ifé.jpg|Ife terracotta head dating to the 14th century. Heads (Orí) are a very prominent aspect of early Ife artistic forms

File:Afrikaabteilung in Ethnological Museum Berlin 32.JPG|Memorial head with vertical facial striations typical of ife heads, Nigeria, 12th century AD, terracotta – Ethnological Museum, Berlin

File:Nigeria, ife, testa memoriale di un re o un notabile, terracotta, xii-xv secolo.jpg|Ife, memorial head of a king or notable with tribal marking/scarification above eyes, terracotta, 12th-15th century

The tendency in many African cosmologies to identify the body as a vehicle incarnating the soul on earth has encouraged the metaphoric use of the masquerade for a similar purpose. Egúngún, Gelede, and Epa are among the many types of Masquerade practiced by the Yoruba.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Benin, kifouli dossou, maschere gueledé, 01.JPG|Gelede mask; Museu Afro Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil)

Nigeria, yoruba, maschera con sette uccelli, xix-xx secolo.jpg|Mask with 7 birds; 19th-20th century; Detroit Institute of Arts (USA)

Nigeria, yoruba, maschera con sovrastruttura e due uccelli, xix-xx secolo ca.jpg|Mask with superstructure and two birds; 19th-20th century; Detroit Institute of Arts

Nigeria, yoruba, corpicapo della società geledè, 1900-15 ca.jpg|Headgear; circa 1900-1915; Detroit Institute of Arts

Nigeria, yoruba, maschera per il carnevale geledè, 1950 ca.jpg|Carnival mask; circa 1950; Indianapolis Museum of Art (USA)

Mask, Yoruba peoples, Benin (Dahomey), collected 1966, wood - Hood Museum of Art - DSC09176.JPG|Mask; wood; Hood Museum of Art (USA)

Efe-gelede cap mask (apasa), Ketu-Ohori Yoruba people, Republic of Benin, early 20th century AD, wood, indigo, white pigments - Krannert Art Museum, UIUC - DSC06189.jpg|Efe-gelede mask; early 20th century AD; wood, indigo & white pigments; Krannert Art Museum (Illinois, USA)

Cové2.jpg|The Gelede Masked Festival in Cové, in Benin

{{main|Oba's crown}}

The bead-embroidered crown (ade) with beaded veil, foremost attribute of the Oba, symbolizes the aspirations of a civilization at the highest level of authority. In his seminal article on the topic, Robert F. Thompson writes, "The crown incarnates the intuition of royal ancestral force, the revelation of great moral insight in the person of the king, and the glitter of aesthetic experience."{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Robert F.|title=African art & leadership|year=1972|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=Madison|isbn=0299058204|pages=227–260|chapter=The Sign of the Divine King: Yoruba Bead-Embroidered Crowns with Veil and Bird Decorations|editor=Douglas Fraser |editor2=Herbert M. Cole}}

Brooklyn Museum 70.109.2 Beaded Crown Ade of Onijagbo Obasoro Alowolodu Ogoga of Ikere 1890-1928.jpg|Beaded Crown (Ade) of Onijagbo Obasoro Alowolodu; late 19th or early 20th century; basketry frame covered by a stiffened cloth base which is embroidered with glass beads: white, blue, green, pink, red-orange, ochre, and violet; 57.8 x 21.6 cm (diameter) (22{{fraction|3|4}} x 8{{1/2}} in.); Brooklyn Museum (New York City)

File:Couronne funéraire ade-Musée du Quai Branly (1).jpg|Yoruba royal ceremonial crown. Ade Nla or Ade Isenbaye. The beaded veil shields the Oba's own face and transforms him into a living embodiment of Odùduwà and the force of the collective ancestors. The birds signify that the Oba is a divine ruler. Half in the physical and half in the spiritual realms just as the birds can traverse both the terrestrial and the celestial. Musée du Quai Branly

File:Nigeria, yoruba, cappello reale, xx secolo 02.jpg|Beaded Oba's royal coronet (Akoro), Indianapolis Museum of Art. The Akoro was smaller than an Adé and was usually worn by lesser ranking kings under a regional Oba.

YorubaCrown2.jpg|Yoruba 19th century copper alloy (brass) crown from Iperu following the typical Yoruba stem on cone ancestral crown designs. These crowns are used in the veneration of the paternal ancestors of Iperu (Ijebu) kings. The four staring faces represent the all-seeing gods or ancestors. Their protruding eyes signify when the spiritual eye replaces ordinary vision. The two figures with mudfish legs refer to supernatural powers in two realms, land and water, or reality and spirit.

File:Man's royal headdress, 1. Yoruba people. Musée des Confluences.jpg|Royal headdress called Orikogbofo were lighter versions of ancestral crowns, which were often heavy and cumbersome. The orikogbofo fulfilled the function of keeping the Oba's head always covered, for it was taboo for an Oba to be seen bare headed. This style is now popular across southern Nigeria worn by various royals in the region. Remnant tassels of a beaded veil that should completely shield the Oba's face has been extensively reduced to a few convenient strings.

File:Nigeria, yoruba, grande corona adenle, xx secolo.jpg|Yoruba ancestral royal crown (Ade Nla)

Brooklyn Museum 70.109.1a-b Beaded Crown Ade of Onijagbo Obasoro Alowolodu Ogoga of Ikere 1890-1928.jpg|Beaded Crown (Ade) of Onijagbo Obasoro Alowolodu, The Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti; late 19th century; basketry frame, covered with beaded cloth; 95.9 x 24.1 cm (37{{fraction|3|4}} x 9{{1/2}} in.); Brooklyn Museum

File:Multidisciplinary technologist Ade Olufeko inside Sungbo's Eredo.jpg inside Sungbo's Eredo holding the Philosophers Legacy heirloom in 2017]]

There is also a vibrant form of customary theatre known as Alarinjo that has its roots in the medieval period and that has given much to the contemporary Nigerian film industry.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

{{main|Esiẹ Museum}}

The museum in Esiẹ, Irepodun (Kwara state), was the first to be established in Nigeria when it opened in 1945. The museum once housed over one thousand tombstone figures or images representing human beings. It is reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200905041139.html |title=Esie Museum|publisher=All Africa|access-date=1 February 2013}} Its works of art have also been said to bear resemblances to those of the Nok culture. In modern times, the Esie museum has been the center of religious activities and hosts a festival in the month of April every year.

{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140810075351/http://newarkmuseum.org/museum_default_page.aspx?id=5080 Emodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art], Newark Museum
• [http://www.onlinenigeria.com/artsandCrafts/ Nigerian Traditional Arts, Crafts and Architecture]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111110091749/http://www.fa.indiana.edu/~conner/yoruba/cut.html Yoruban and Akan Art in Wood and Metal], Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences
• [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/71017/rec/1 For spirits and kings: African art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman collection], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Yoruba art
• {{cite web|url=http://www.ibejiarchive.com|title=Ibeji Archive}} the web-site containing the largest existing collection of photos of Ibeji.

{{Authority control}}

Art

Category:Nigerian art