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new items : Yoruba Bronze Arm Band
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Yoruba Bronze Arm Band - SP.070
Origin: Nigeria
Circa: 1700
AD
to 1900
AD
Dimensions:
5" (12.7cm) high
x 4.5" (11.4cm) wide
Medium: Bronze
$3,600.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
The Yoruba people, numbering over eighteen
million, are one of the best known and most
artistically prolific tribes of Sub-Saharan Africa.
They are centered in southwestern Nigeria, with
a significant population extending into the
neighboring Republic of Benin. In addition, many
people in both North and South America claim
Yoruban ancestry, a result of the Atlantic slave
trade. Although Yoruban peoples have long
referred to themselves by specific group names
based on the towns they inhabit, they are all
united by the Yoruba language, a common
mythology, and related artistic styles, suggesting
there is a common identity linking all the people.
Historically, the Yoruba lived in politically
centralized city-states, the most famous of
which are Ife (the mythological nexus of
creation), Owo, and Oyo (from which the name
Yoruba was derived by missionaries). Yoruba art
is now designated by the name of the
geographic locale a particular group inhabited.
Some individual artists and workshops have also
been identified. The Yoruba are famed for their
beadwork, which was used to decorate
attributes of kings, including foot rests, crowns,
and cloaks. Other major art forms include
textiles, figurative implements used by herbalists
and diviners, small figures carved to honor
deceased twins (called ibeji dolls), cast copper-
alloy ritual objects, as well as decorative stools
and veranda posts that would have belonged to
the king. The Yoruba people also specialized in
metalsmithing, which can be seen here in this
exquisite armband. The armband includes many
incised details purely for decorative purpose,
which makes this piece more technically
impressive.
- (SP.070)
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