Container (Opon Igede)

YorubaWW-1900-128389

1900·Wood and pigment·overall: 50.8 × 50.8 × 50.8 cm (20 × 20 × 20 in.)

<p>Designed to store the implements of a diviner, this container features scenes that refer to conflict and resolution: two women pounding into a mortar, a woman struggling against two men, and a man riding a bicycle, among others. During his long and influential career, Areogun of Osi Ilorin—who also made the <em>opon ifa</em> divination tray in this case—developed a style characterized by imagery carved in a deep bas-relief.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1900
Medium: Wood and pigment
Dimensions: overall: 50.8 × 50.8 × 50.8 cm (20 × 20 × 20 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Yoruba

Artist

Yoruba

Textile

Yoruba is an Atlantic–Congo language that is spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West Nigeria, Benin, and parts of Togo. It is spoken by the Yoruba people. Yoruba speakers number roughly 50 million, including around 2 million second-language or L2 speakers. As a pluricentric language, it is primarily spoken in a dialectal area spanning Nigeria, Benin, and Togo with smaller migrated communities in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

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