African Arts Gallery

A medium of communication with the beyond, Yoruba sculpture is intended to decorate family or collective altars, and is often born of gratitude for the blessings that the gods have granted to the faithful. Matt grainy patina with a reddish brown tint.
Abrasions and cracks.
br>The use of the term Yoruba, derived from a Hausa word which designated the Yoruba of the northern kingdom of Oyo, dates from the mid-19th century. It is especially in favor of the kingdom of Oyo, which extended its hegemony over a large part of the region in the 17th and 18th centuries, that the history of the Yoruba was written. The kingdoms of Oyo and Ijebu were born following the disappearance of the Ifé civilization and are still the basis of the political structure of the Yoruba . The Oyo created two cults centered on the Egungun and Sango societies, still active, which worship their gods, the Orisa >, through ceremonies using masks, statuettes, scepters and divination supports with coded messages (aroko).