Large African statue from the Yoruba, Nigeria. Hand carved from a single piece of wood. Size: 71 cm high. This Yoruba sculpture was dated from the second half of the 20th century with certificate of authenticity. This impressive and truly beautiful sculpture, like most other Yoruba sculptures, is generally naturalistic. It depicts a woman engaged in modeling wooden sculptures for various rituals in Yoruba culture. True to the classic Yoruba form, this sculpture, with a beautiful hair comb and facial features, protrudes from her oval face, giving the figure a spiritual intensity, enhanced by her stiff and tight lips. She holds tools for modeling in both hands. In front of her, a smaller figure assists her. In Yoruba culture, figurative sculptures delineate and concretize the boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead. At shrines, a series of wooden sculptures were displayed depicting female, but primarily male, figures flanked by a courtly entourage of women, servants, and attendants, in honor and commemoration of important individuals. These images are part of a range of art forms that provided access to influential ancestors and were also valued for their aesthetic quality.