The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 10, 2024

Twin Figure (Ère Ìbejì)

Twin Figure (Ère Ìbejì)

c. 1940s
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Members of the Fakeye family continue to carve into the twenty-first century.

Description

Among the Yoruba, who have the world's highest instance of multiple births, twins are regarded as sacred children. Should one die, the parents may commission a memorial figure. They then care for the figure (decorate, clothe, wash, and feed it), symbolically honoring and entertaining the spirit of the departed twin so it does not call its partner to join it in the otherworld. The indigo and washing blue in the hair and the red camwood cosmetic rubbed on the bodies of these figures are signs of the devotions of their former owners.
  • 1966
    Ross Widen, Cleveland
    Ross Widen, Cleveland (1966); Katherine White Reswick
  • Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 127.
  • CMA 1975: "Traditions and Revisions," cat. no. 44.
    CMA 1973: "Year in Review 1972," CMA Bulletin LX (March, 1973), p. 107, no. 42
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 127, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Twin Figure (Ère Ìbejì)|url=false|author=Fakeye School|year=c. 1940s|access-date=10 October 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.332.2