Figure of a Woman Holding a Pineapple

Origin: Yoruba Tribe, Nigeria
Composition: wood, lacquer paint

Yoruba deities such as Obatala ad Yemaya (deities related to the Sky and Fire) are often represented holding or offering a pineapple or coconut, while Shango is often seen with yams or a calabash. This female figure is one of six Yoruba pieces we acquired together in 2005. The extent of her scarification, with abundant crosses and symbols, make the figure unusual and quite elaborate for a Yoruba female figure of this type. The rustic nature of the piece gives the feeling of use and function, perhaps as part of a particular ritual, after which it was then sold. A significant amount of carving on the pineapple itself (with slight strangely similar lines to a durian) and the elaborate hairstyle design give nice finishing touches to the figure. Yoruba pieces with lacquer are present in quality African art collections throughout the world.

Most of the people who currently inhabit the western state of Nigeria, and some who live in the Republic of Benin and Togo today call themselves Yoruba; but it appears they did not have a common name before the Christian missionaries began to call them “Yoruba” after the language of the Oyo kingdom (Yooba). Oyo is said to have, at one time, been the political center of the Yoruba, and Ife the ritual center. Yoruba land comprises many independent kingdoms, most of which claim to have originated from Ile-Ife. The Yoruba language has many dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible. The Yoruba have a pantheon of deities (Orisha) who are under the Supreme Being, Olodumare, who lives in Heaven. There are said to be some four hundred of these deities, representing ancestors and the spirits of natural phenomena like rivers and hills. A broad general style of Yoruba art can be recognized, but there are local variations between kingdoms and within a kingdom.

The word ‘Yoruba’ describes both a language and a tribe living across Nigeria and the Popular Republic of Benin, in an area of forest and savannah. Their origins can be traced back to the end of the first millennium like the civilization of Ife (surveyed in the Nok chapter). Following the collapse of the Ife civilization, a number of kingdoms such as the Ijebu and the Oyo emerged. They, in turn, disintegrated during the 18th and 19th centuries, but were revived by the colonial powers at the end of the 19th century and today still form the political structure of the Yoruba people. The enormous scale of the slave trade in Nigeria contributed to the diaspora of the Yoruba people and informed spiritual practices in countries such as Haiti (Passage from Tribal Arts of Africa).