Yoruba - Benin (No reserve price)

Title:
Yoruba Agere Ifá / Arugba - Ritual offering bowl - Wood - Nigeria - Mid 20th century (20 cm)

Specifications:

Object: Agere Ifá / Caryatid bowl (Arugba)
Culture / People: Yoruba
Origin: Nigeria / Benin
Material: Hand-carved monoxyl wood
Period: Middle to second half of the 20th century
Height: 20 cm
Condition: Good condition with authentic signs of aging

Description:
An expressive, traditionally hand-carved Agere Ifá (ritual bowl) of the Yoruba people. Such caryatid bowls were used by the Ifá priest (Babalawo) to store the sacred oracle palm nuts (ikin Ifá) during divination rituals, or served as a votive carrier (Arugba) within a shrine dedicated to the Orisha.

Iconography & Symbolism:

Central Mother Figure: The head figure carries a child on her lap and a second child strapped to her back. This depicts fertility, protection, and the female spiritual power (àṣẹ).

Flanking Attendants: On either side sits a kneeling figure in the traditional posture of devotion and respect (ikunle). The right figure presents a sacrificial animal (rooster/bird), while the left figure prays/begs.

Details: The figures show classic Yoruba facial features with expressive almond-shaped eyes and tribal scarification marks (keke / pele) on the cheeks and forehead. The carried bowl around the rim is refined with geometric cross-hatch engravings.

Condition:
The sculpture is in a beautiful, authentic state with a warm, dark patina. On the bottom and on the bowl there are clear artisanal traces of traditional tools (knifework). A few light, natural hairline cracks in the hardwood at the edge and base, appropriate to the age and the properties of the natural material. No restorations.