Anonymous Yoruba artist
19th century or earlier
Copper Alloy
height 4 3/8 in
Further images
Ogboni (also known as osugbo in Ijèbú) was an important Yoruba institution whose members performed a range of political, juridical, and religious functions, including exercising a profound influence on monarchs and local chiefs. Each ogboni lodge was led by a small group of principal officers, who were considered as the most powerful figures in the polity that the lodge served. These ogboni lodges were one of the main commissioners of brass jewelry and sculpture in pre-colonial Yorubaland, using the metal’s rust-resistant qualities as an apt metaphor for the immortal functions and beliefs of ogboni adepts. The best known and most typical ogboni object are undoubtedly the pair of anthropomorphic brass staffs or figures known as edan which were used as insignia of ogboni membership. Free-standing figures, rattles, staffs were other bronze artworks commissioned by its fellows. While very little of the ogboni rites and symbolism is known, art historians such as William Fagg and Hans Witte have identified styles and iconographic characteristics typical of its art. While the bulging eyes are a classic trait of Yoruba art in general, the double crescent-shaped decorations on both faces at the opposite ends of this open bracelet are a clear ogboni reference, almost certainly meaning this delicate work of jewelry was made for the society. The research of William Fagg indicates that the specific style of the face originates from the brass-smiths of the Idomowo quarter of the Yoruba town of Ijebu-Ode. While many open-worked ogboni armlets are known, less than a dozen thick, open bracelets as the present have been identified. Its well-executed design reveal the high level of bronze casting developed by the Ijebu. The greenish archeological patina of the present bracelet indicates its old age as it must have been worn by an important Ijebu person in life or death.
Provenance
Collected in the 1960s by Balint B. Denes, who formed the “Alexandra Collection of African Arts”.
The Balint B. Denes (Denes Balint) Collection, Arizona, USA, 2022
Anderson & Garland, Newcastle,
“The Collector’s Auction”, 30 June 2022, lot 936.
Duende Art Projects, Antwerp, Belgium, 2022
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