Yoruba peoples, Owo region, Nigeria
16th century
Ivory
14.5 x 10.5 x 10.5 cm (5 11/16 x 4 1/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
2005-6-8, gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (cat. no. 66)
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The artist's technical virtuosity is evident in this extraordinary armlet carved from one piece of ivory. The motifs on the outer interlocking piece include kneeling hunchbacks holding tethered monkeys. Hunchbacks are regarded as touched by the god Obatala who shapes the human form in the womb. White is the symbolic color of Obatala and may tie in with the use of ivory for this bracelet. The theme of ritual offerings is suggested by the disembodied heads within the interlocking circles of crocodiles biting the heads and tails of mudfish and by the tethered monkeys.
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