Ɵ Oshe Shango, Yoruba People, Nigeria
Wood with... Lot 15
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Ɵ Oshe Shango, Yoruba People, Nigeria
Wood with brown patina
H. 45.5 cm
Oshe Shango, Yoruba, Nigeria
H. 17 7/8 in
Provenance:
- Samir Borro, Brussels
- Bernard de Grunne, Brussels
- Private collection
The orishas of the Yoruba are deified human beings who lived at the time of the creation of the world. According to tradition, they were devoted to the natural forces that governed the Yoruba world and honoring them gave them protection. Shango, the spirit of thunder and lightning, was one of the most important orishas and his cult was transmitted along the slave trade routes to Brazil and the Caribbean.
In Yoruba country, worship of Shango required the presence of a scepter or oshe shango with the attributes of the god, a double hammer called edum ara, most often carried by a female worshiper.
Carved by a master of the Igbomina group, our scepter represents a woman respectfully bowing under the weight of the divine attribute tied in her headdress. Her large breasts are an obvious symbol of fertility and a reminder that Shango is a fertilizing god.
The balance of this sculpture and the arrangement of its volumes are remarkable. The finishing of the work in its smallest details and the beautiful patina with which it is covered give it a first rank within the group of oshe shango scepters of the Igbomina that have come down to us.
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