Yoruba Ogboni Shrine Figures PAIR, Nigeria #778

Ogboni Shrine Figures PAIR, Nigeria #778 A fragmentary couple of large Ogboni Shrine Figures, Nigeria, Yoruba, Ijebu, or Owu Religion.  According to the last owner it was once found in a well and not in the earth. "The style of works in metal and ivory is very different...its completely different function." (The Art of Black Africa, translated by R.A. Wilson, the New York Graphic Society, New York, 1972, pp 174-176.) Measurements: Height, 104 cm / 104 cm Condition: Very Good Lit.: Leuzinger, Elsy, Kunst uit Afrika: Rond de Niger - De Machtige Rivier, The Hague: Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1971, no. L11. Leuzinger, Elsy, Kunsthaus Zürich: Die Kunst von Schwarz-Afrika, Zurich: Kunsthaus, 1970, pp. 178, no. L11.  Headed by the Oluwo (Chief Priest), the Yoruba Ogboni (meaning 'Cult of Old Age') is a Society of Respected Elderly Men and Women responsible for the management and wellbeing of their Community through the maintenance of Law and Order - often with the power to sentence criminals to de