2023.46.4.3

Collection type

Object

Description

Miniature pith helmet for a man.

Long description

Detachable miniature pith helmet that is part of a carved wooden figure of a District Officer. The helmet has been painted with white and black pigment.

Geographical reference

Nigeria

Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria

Cultural groups

Yoruba

Person

Maker Thomas Ona Odulate

Field collector Gladys Price

Field collector Tommy Price

PRM source David Ashcroft

Date / Period

Date made: circa 1930s

Date collected

1930s

Acquisition information

Donated: 18/10/2023

Materials and processes

Material Wood Plant, Process Carved, Process Painted

Dimensions

Length: max 100 mm, Width: max 65 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 2023.46.4.3

Research and responses

During the colonial period it was common for African artists to create works which commented on European behaviours that they found peculiar or against local customs. Renowned artist Thomas Ona Odulate of Ijebu-Ode (c. 1900–1952) became known for his miniature wooden carvings that documented colonial life in a Yorùbá style. He created many commemorative figures for the early tourist trade in Nigeria, carving soft wood in the traditional Yorùbá way using an adze and a knife. He used inks and white shoe polish to colour his sculptures, rather than vegetable dyes, often leaving some areas in the natural wood colour. Ona was particularly interested in costume and would carve his subjects with accoutrements of power as removable items, such as the wide brimmed ‘sola topi’ which are common on many of his figures, despite traditional Yorùbá carvings being sculpted from a single piece of wood. He also incorporated long-established traditions for proportion into his artworks by carving the heads of his figures many times larger than life-size, reflecting the Yorùbá belief that the head is the most important part of a person. “Europeans, not accustomed to seeing themselves represented in an African style of sculpture, presumed that they were being caricatured. Ona however declared, when interviewed by William Bascom, that he was simply representing the world as he saw it” (Willett, F., 1971, African Art: an Introduction. New York: Praeger, p.143, fig. 132). See RDF for further information provided by the donor David Ashcroft.

Search terms: Figure