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1914.26.33

Carved wooden ancestor image, consisting of a number of stacked elements and with incised decoration. [JC [OPS Move] 6/6/2017]

1914.26.33

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Collection type
Object
Description
Carved wooden ancestor image, consisting of a number of stacked elements and with incised decoration. [JC [OPS Move] 6/6/2017]
Long description
Carved wooden ancestor image. The figure is long and narrow and consists of a number of stacked elements. There is a very roughly carved wooden base, above which is a cylindrical section with a series of incised curves forming a lozenge. Above this is the main body of the figure, also cylindrical but hollowed to create a vertical handle which is decorated with grooves. On top of this section is the rounded head, with the facial features carved in high relief and incised decoration on the forehead. On top of this and terminating the figure is a flared hat of headress. On both sides of the head, where the ears should be, is an incised circle, stained black in side. Further traces of black paint can be found on all the elements. [JC [OPS Move] 6/6/2017]
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Southern Nigeria Oron
Cultural groups
Ibibio
Person
Field collector Percy Amaury Talbot
PRM source Percy Amaury Talbot
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1914
Date collected
By 1914
Acquisition information
Donated: 1914
Materials and processes
Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Carved, Process Incised, Process Painted
Dimensions
Height: max 547 mm, Diameter: max 70 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1914.26.33
Research and responses

Published: Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, 1965 Art from the Guinea Coast

Nicklin, K. forthcoming Ekpu: the Ancestor Figures of Oron, London: Ethnographica. LMC May 1986.

Associated publications
Listed as number 82 on page 12 of Art from the Guinea Coast (Pitt Rivers Museum, Illustrated Catalogue No. 1), Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum (1965): 'NIGERIA Eastern Region ... 82. Ancestor figure (ekpu) carved in hardwood[.] Oron clan, Ibibio tribe (1914.26.33.) (54.5 cm.)'. Also illustrated in black and white in unnumbered plate XXIV. (For details of exhibition, see under 'Display History'.) [JC 12 9 2013]

Search terms: Figure, Religion, Religious Object

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