The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Pair of Twin Figures (Ère Ìbejì)

c. 1930s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

Wood, organic material, probably bluing, glass beads, and natural fiber
Each: 27.3 cm (10 3/4 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1972.334
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The blue color of these figures' hair is a mix of the natural material indigo and laundry blue, a powdered substance used to brighten laundry.

Description

Yorùbá people, who have the world's highest number of multiple births, regard twins 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
    1966–1973
    Katherine White Reswick (Katherine C. White)
    1973–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift
  • Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, no. 129.
  • CMA 1973: "Year in Review 1972," CMA Bulletin LX (March, 1973), p. 107, no. 41.
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 129, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Pair of Twin Figures (Ère Ìbejì)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1930s|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.334