A male Urhobo sculpture

A male Urhobo sculpture, Southern Nigeria, collected in the delta region seated on a stool; minor ritual use and age related scratches and surface cracks. Certificate of origin and provenance.

"The Urhobo live in the western region of the Niger Delta, in the south of Nigeria. They honour the forces of nature in the form of spirits, as well as their own ancestors. The main religious figure in the ancestor cult of the Urhobo is the wood spirit and ‘mythical warrior’, called ‘Ejo’. He is represented in the form of a figure, and ritually venerated in his own shrine and given offerings."

Lit.: Erwin Melchardt: Urhobo, Nigeria: A sculpture of the 'mythical warrior Ejo', who is venerated in his own shrines by the Urhobo, in: Dorotheum, Lot No. 55; Perkins Foss, "Urhobo Statuary for Spirits and Ancestors", African Arts, July 1976, Vol. IX, No. 4, p. 18; Jean-Baptiste Bacquart: The Tribal Arts of Afric’, p. 93, fig. 8. Perkins Foss, "Urhobo Statuary for Spirits and Ancestors", African Arts, July 1976, Vol. IX, No. 4, p. 18; Jean-Baptiste Bacquart: The Tribal Arts of Afric’, p. 93, fig. 8.

Perkins Foss edit. "Where gods and mortals meet", Museum for African Art, New York page 95.

Height: 91 cm
Weight: 8,8 kg