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Igbo

Ritual sculpture Ofo Igbo (

The sculptures, Ofo mediator objects in African art

This African sculpture named Ofo (named after the tree from which it was made) is endowed with a face crowned by a wide crest. Its base forms three spirals. The wooden torso is fitted with rods and ribbons of metal, some in twisted patterns. A rare and symbolic piece owned by an elder named N'dichie, and associated with the agnatic lineage, on which oaths were sometimes sworn, this object in black iron was placed in Igbo houses and shrines. The Igbo live in the forest in the southeast of Nigeria. This tradition later broadens to neighboring ethnic groups. Beginning from a botanical sculpture derived from a 'masculine' tree and composed of brittle twigs, images of boys dependent on their father and then breaking away from him, this object is part of a type of creations (skeuomorphs) in Nigerian culture, made in a material different from the original model. Source: Arts of Nigeria, Nigel Barley.