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wrn: Representing the Self and Its Metaphysical Other in Yoruba Art Author(s): Babatunde Lawal Source: The

Art Bulletin, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Sep., 2001), pp. 498-526 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177240 Accessed: 11/12/2009 11:01
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Aworan: Representing the Self and Its Metaphysical Other in Yoruba Art
Babatunde Lawal
Among the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin, the word dwordn commonly refers to any two- or three-dimensional representation, ranging from the naturalistic to the stylized (Figs. 1, 2). A contraction of d (that which), w6 (to look at), and rdnti (to recall, that is, the subject), dwordn is mnemonic in nature, identifying a work of art as a construct specially crafted to appeal to the eyes, relate a representation to its subject, and, at the same time, convey messages that may have aesthetic, social, political, or spiritual import.1 It should be emphasized, however, that Yoruba is a tonal language, so that the same word may have different meanings depending on how it is pronounced.2 For example, because of a change in the vowel tones, the word aworan refers not to a represenis dwordn-but to its beholder, being a contation-which traction of a (the one), w6 (looking at), and iran (spectacle).3 The meaning of the root verb w6 (to look) remains intact in the two words, linking the beholder to the beheld. In this article, I want to focus not only on the interconnectedness of art and language in Yoruba culture but also on how their cosmogony and concept of procreation draw on the metaphors of artistic creativity. In the process, I will underline the nature, contexts, functions, peculiarities, and poetics of visual representations, their impact on cultural behavior, and the extent to which portraiture has been used to reinforce the body politic at both the physical and metaphysical levels. As Richard Brilliant has rightly observed, "The synthetic study of portraiture requires some sensitivity to the social implications of its representational modes, to the documentary value of art as aspects of social history, and to the subtle interaction between social and artistic conventions."4 In addition, I will attempt to shed some light on the nexus between dw6rdn (picture or representation) and iworan (the act of looking). Much of my data derives from field observations and interviews in Yorubaland, where I have conducted art historical research since the 1960s. I have also made use of Yoruba oral tradition, a good part of which has been studied by scholars in different disciplines and found to contain substantial factual information that can be used for historical reconstruction.5 The fact that I conducted the field interviews in the Yoruba language (of which I am a native speaker) sometimes enabled me to play the role of a participant-observer and then follow up with questions pertaining to the semiotics of images and spectatorship. Hence, my theoretical approach combines linguistic, visual, iconographic, contextual, and anthropological analyses. Omo Oduduwd: The Quest for Unity in Diversity Numbering over 25 million people, the Yoruba are divided into several kingdoms, each headed by a king (oba). Almost all the kings and their subjects regard themselves as Omo Odutduwd,the descendants of Odfduwat, a mythical progenitor popularly identified as the first "divine" king of If&, the ancient city widely regarded as the cradle of Yoruba civilization.6 Although Yoruba culture appears to be homogeneous, there are significant regional variations, suggesting that what we have today is a synthesis of previously diverse, even if related, elements. This phenomenon is apparent in the Yoruba language, which has various dialects differentiating one kingdom from another,7 and in the fact that Oduduwa has a double identity. In some parts of Yorubaland, he is regarded as a powerful warrior and the leader of an immigrant group that subjugated the aboriginal population of Ife and established a new ruling dynasty that eventually brought the whole of present-day Yorubaland under its hegemony. In other parts, the same Odfduwa (also pronounced Oo6dua) is worshiped as an earth goddess who sustains humanity in the same way that a mother nurtures her children. The fact that Odfduwa, the male warrior, is sometimes addressed as a "mother" has led some scholars of Yoruba history and religion to suggest that the male aspect is a later development, reflecting an attempt by a new dynasty to legitimize its hegemony by grafting a male aspect onto a preexisting earth goddess. This dynastic change, often dated between the seventh and eleventh centuries C.E.,8 reverberates in one cosmogonic myth concerning a power tussle between two deities in the Yoruba pantheon. According to the myth, the universe at first consisted of only the heavens and was governed by Ol6dfimare, the Supreme Being and the generator of dse (pronounced dshe), the vital principle empowering existence. Assisting Olo6dmare to administer the universe was a pantheon of deities and nature spirits called orisd, each of whom personified different attributes of the Supreme Being, such as water, land, creativity, industry, wisdom, beauty, fertility, vision, dynamism, healing, and so on. After some time, 016duimare decided to create land below the sky and assigned the job to the creativity deity Obatala. Unfortunately, Obatala got drunk after receiving the sacred instruments of his commission and fell asleep by the roadside. Thereupon, a rival deity, Odfiduwa, stole the sacred instruments, descended from the sky, and created what we now call the earth. When Obatala woke up and discovered what had happened, he challenged Oduduwa and a fierce fight ensued. The Supreme Being later intervened, compensating Obatala with another assignment-to mold the images of the first human beings, who later became inhabitants of the earth.9 There are indications that the warring factions later intermarried and united to form a central government in Ife under Odfiduwta, agreeing to rotate the kingship among themselves.10 These events are commemorated annually during the Edi, Itapa, 016j6, and Obatala festivals in If&and its environs when the the aborigines-and devotees of Obatala-representing the immigrants-engage those of Odfiduwa-representing in ritualized mock battles that usually end in favor of the Odfduwa faction, after which there is a reconciliation." Suffice it to say that the Omo Odiduwa ethos, which seems to

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1 Standing figure of an unidentified


ooni (king) of Ife, Yoruba, Ife, Nigeria, brass, h. 189/16 in., ca. 14th-15th

century. Lagos, Nigeria, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: copyright 1979 Dirk Bakker) have influenced the Yoruba concept of portraiture, was apparently invented as a political strategy aimed at forging a kind of "Unity in Diversity" relating the immigrant and aboriginal groups-royals and commoners alike.12 Ere Eniydn: The Archetypal Human Image, and Ondyzyd:Creating a Work of Art Of special interest to us here is the myth that the creativity deity Obatala molded the archetypal human image (ere eniydn) from divine clay. According to the myth, Ogun, the deity ((risd) associated with iron tools and weapons, put the finishing touches to the form, clarifying and delineating the principal features, especially the face. The image (ere) turned into a living human (eniydn) after receiving from the Supreme Being the divine breath or soul (emi)-a form of dse (the enabling power). Since then, every image thus produced has been placed inside the womb of a pregnant woman and left to develop from an embryonic form into a normal baby.

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2 Seated female altar figure signifying Onile (Earth Goddess), Yoruba, Nigeria, brass, h. 102 in. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: author, 1995)

Hence the prayer for an expectant mother: "Ki Orisa ya ona ire ko ni" (May the Orisa [Obatala] fashion for us a good work of art).13 The implication is that procreation, in spite of its biological aspect, has an artistic dimension as well: the human body is the handiwork of Obatala, a piece of sculpture (ere) animated by a soul (emi). In other words, the body (ara) makes the spirit manifest, enabling an individual to have iwd (physical existence) in the visible world. Iwd denotes not only the fact of being but also the distinctive quality or character of a person.14 The Yoruba identify a work of art as ont, that is, an embodiment of creative skills, implicating the archetypal action

of Obattal'a, the creativity deity and patron of the Yoruba artist. The process of creating a work of art is called ondyiyd (literally, ond, art, and yiyd, creation or making), a term implicated in the aforementioned prayer for an expectant mother. Yiyd derives from the root verb yd, meaning to create, fashion, or make. The fact that the female body mediates Obatala's creation15 has led some to translate iyd, the Yoruba word for a mother, as "someone from whom another life is fashioned" or the body "from which we are created."'16 The term jora denotes a striking resemblance between a child and any of its parents or among members of the same family. Thus, a naturalistic representation is called dydjora, a contraction of d (act of), yd (to create), jo (to resemble), and ara (physical body of the subject). That is to say, the artist's main goal is to capture individual likeness, as in a portrait of one of the ancient kings (ooni) of Ife (Fig. 1). The reason for the prominence of the head in Yoruba art will be discussed shortly. A conceptual representation, on the other hand, is called droyd (a contraction of d, act of, r6, to think or imagine, and yd, to create) because it is done from memory.17 For example, the seated female of Figure 2 is far from being a portrait of a known person. Rather, the image is a construct-a figure for an altar signifying the Earth Goddess (le) in her symbolic role as the "Mother and Caretaker of the World" (Iya Aye), hence, her appellation Onile (Owner of the House). The two small figures in her hands represent the male and female aspects of nature, whose interaction ensures the perpetuation of life on earth.18 The emphasis here is not so much on empirical observation as on the use of the mind's eye to visualize and give material form to an idea. The literary equivalent of droyd (conceptual imagery) is drofo (oral poetry)-a shortened form of d (act of), r6 (to think or imagine), and fo (to chant or utter). Although it has individual and regional variations (just as the Yoruba language has subdialects), the Yoruba sculptural style (evident especially in wood but also in stone and ivory sculpture) is distinguished by stylized figures-standing, kneeling, or riding on horseback-with large heads, elaborate hairdos, and protruding facial features (Figs. 4, 18, 20).19 Through the apprenticeship system, young artists are trained to create images in the substyle characteristic of a particular region as well as to master and interpret the iconographic conventions (dsd) handed down from the past.20 The fact that much of Yoruba art functions in a religious context has stabilized these conventions, imposing some limitation on the extent of change within the canon, while, at the same time, allowing creativity, innovation, and the incorporation of new elements in time and place. An apprentice graduates after demonstrating enough imo (mastery of time-honored conventions), imoose (technical proficiency), and ojuiond (literally, artistic eye) to practice as a professional. Ojuiond can be defined as "design consciousness,"21 or the visual cognition that enables an artist to select and process images from daily experience into schemata or templates (determined by the Yoruba style), which are then stored in pictorial memory, to be retrieved and modified when needed to express an idea. As a result, a well-trained artist does not need a life model or a preparatory sketch to represent a particular subject. A carver, for example, begins by staring intently at the wood while conjuring up the relevant schema from his pic-

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torial memory. Thus, the term dwordn signifies much more than an image that recalls the subject. It also alludes to the creative process, especially an artist's preliminary contemplation (d-w6) of the raw material and the pictorial memory (irdnti) necessary for visualizing and objectifying the subject. Thereafter, the carver projects the schema onto the wood, reaches for his tools, and follows an established procedure: (a) sisd (blocking out), using a big adze to reveal mass and volume and to outline the image(s), emphasizing the head(s); (b) ontlile (tracking forms), using a smaller adze to clarify the image (s); (c) daletunl (consolidation), using chisels and knives to further define the component parts; (d) diddn (smoothening), using knives and abrasive leaves to remove tool marks and rough edges; and (e) finfin (incising), using a knife to accentuate facial features and body parts, cut patterns, and create surface designs.22 Modeling in clay (later cast into brass or bronze) follows a similar procedure, though differences in material, tools, and technique invariably produce different results. Carvings tend to look more linear and angular, due to the subtractive technique, while modeled forms have a smoother finish because of the additive technique. According to the artists interviewed in different parts of Yorubaland, the creative process involves three deities, Obatala, Ogun, and Esu. Obatala (creativity deity) provides the imaginative component, Ogfin (iron deity), the tools for transforming the material, and Esf (divine messenger), the vision and dse (enabling power) that facilitate execution.23 Ontki:Glorifying the Head in Word and Image Literally meaning "head praise," the term oriki refers to a eulogy or poem (drofo) glorifying the worthiness of an individual. It is chanted at critical moments to goad the head to action and thereby spur a person to greater achievement.24 For the head (ori) is perceived as the seat of the dse (enabling power) that determines one's identity and existence, influencing behavior and personal destiny: If I have money It is my Ori [head] I will praise My Ori, it is you If I have children on earth It is my Ori to whom I will give praise My Ori it is you All the good things I have on earth It is Ori I will praise My Ori, It is you.25 In effect, the head (or) is the lord of the body and therefore must be acknowledged and given pride of place. A similar message is apparent in the emphasis on the head in Yoruba art. It is almost always the biggest and the most elaborately finished part of a typical figure sculpture, often adorned with a crownlike coiffure or headgear (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 18, 20) .26With this complementarity of word and image in mind, the Yoruba linguistic scholar Olabiyi Yai has suggested, "When approaching Yoruba art, an intellectual orientation that would be consonant with Yoruba traditions of scholarship would be to consider each individual Yoruba art work and the entire This is because while most oriki (eulogies) corpus as on7ki."27 and embellishment in the course of their changes undergo

3 Altar (ibori)for the inner head (Ori inu), Yoruba, Nigeria, h. 5?/2in., 20th century. Ife, Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University Collection (photo: author, 1970s)

oral transmission from one generation to another, they often retain a core of historical or iconographic elements that defines the essence and character of the subject. Moreover, Yoruba artists in the past were expected, as part of their training, to familiarize themselves with the onikiof important personalities and the major orisd (deities) in their community and with indigenous theology, which they took into consideration when creating shrines and related images. Thus, apart from their aesthetic qualities, shrine images speak volumes about Yoruba society, its social practices and worldview. One of the fundamentals of this worldview is that the visible head (onr ode) is no more than an enclosure for the inner, spiritual head, called ori inu, which localizes the dse that empowers the physical self.28 Although the dse emanates from the Supreme Being, it is mediated by Esufi(pronounced Eshtu), the divine messenger and principle of dynamism in the Yoruba cosmos.29 One myth claims that before an individual is born into the physical world, its soul must select an inner head (on int) from a collection of ready-made clay heads molded by Ajala, the heavenly potter. Because of their association with personal destiny, these clay heads are abstracted and made to look similar, though each is intrinsically different. The one selected by an individual becomes an integral part of the metaphysical self, constituting the inner core of the physical head and determining a person's lot on earth.30 In the distant past, most adult Yoruba dedicated an altar called ibori to the inner head in the form of a coneshaped object covered with leather and adorned with cowrie shells (Fig. 3). Once used as currency, these shells allude to the wealth that a "good head" can bring to a person. Apart from concealing that person's fate (ipin), the ibori links the self with Esf, who originates the motions, emotions, and actions associated with iwa, earthly existence. As the divine

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pie of intelligence, vigilance, and surveillance, among others, in Yoruba culture. No wonder that the Esui image illustrated in Figure 6, one of three once installed in a public square in the middle (about thirty-five miles Igbijo of the village of from Ife) was reportedly vandalized by Ijesa!warriors during their invasion of Igbajo in the 1880s;36 note the damage to the left arm. Incidentally, Esfi is anthropomorphized here, combining the look of a child with that of an adult in allusion to the paradoxical, betwixt-and-between nature of the deity and his association with the threshold-a recurring theme in much of his orzki (eulogies): The short and tall one Whose head is barely visible when he walks through a peanut farm Thanks to the fact that he is very tall But Esfi must climb the hearthstone in order to put salt in the soup pot ... Lib6lirind6,37 if you reach the frontier and do not encounter him at the citygate working in the field You will find him in the vicinity and he is always accessible to everyone, including the infirm..3 'f ? ;Ay'jora: Portraying the Physical Self The emphasis on ara (physical body) in the word dydjora reveals the objective of the Yoruba artist in a naturalistic

4 Esustaff (Ogo Esui),Yoruba, h. 15% in., ca. 19th-20th century. Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund (photo: Katherine Wetzel)

messenger and the omnipresent agency of the Supreme Being in all living things, Esfi is asojt (the observer),31 and thus the catalyst for sight.32 Esui's connection with the head, especially the face (ojf), is illustrated by the popular notion that by blinking his eyes, he can make a person look beautiful or in the Yoruba pantheon depend on ugly.33 Even fellow 3ristd Esfi for their vision; according to a myth, he once confused Odfiduwa's sight, with the result that the latter mistook the divination deity (Ifa) for a leopard and ran away in fright.34 In other words, Esfi activates the face, the site of perception and communication, reflecting the feelings of pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow, hope and despair, and other passions associated with temporal existence and behavior. The Yoruba word for a facade is oji-ie (literally, the face of the house) because the facade is to a house what the face is to the body, an index of identity. The doors of a house open and close just like the eyes. That is why Esfi images or staffs are often placed, for security purposes, near the doorway, at the crossroads, and at the town gates. Some have two faces looking in opposite directions (Figs. 4, 5), as though monitoring developments from within and without, from left and right, from above and below, and from nearby and the great beyond.35 ' The cowrie shells on this staff denote the blessings that Esfu may bestow on those he favors, despite his prankishness. The flute or whistle motif identifies him both as the herald, who coordinates the activities of all the deities, and as a gatekeeper, guide, and detective. He thus exemplifies the princi-

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5 Back view of Fig. 4 (photo: Katherine Wetzel)

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portrait (Figs. 7-15): to capture a recognizable likeness of the (literally, earthly subject with an emphasis on oji dmutiwdyg face), the face one is born with and which identifies one's ziwd (telluric existence). This face is time-bound, changing with mood and age.39 However, the artist frequently ignores the transitory emotional aspects, idealizing only those features that facilitate identity, the emphasis being on jijora, or what Robert Farris Thompson calls a "midpoint mimesis" between absolute abstraction and absolute likeness.40 In the past, many Yoruba treated the naturalistic representation of a living person with ambivalence for two main reasons. One stems from a popular notion that every living person has a spirit partner ( a "look-alike") in heaven called enikeji (heavenly double) who offers spiritual protection to its earthly counterpart.41 The creation of a lifelikeness in art (a humanmade "look-alike") is perceived as a distraction that may jeopardize this relationship, causing the heavenly double to withdraw its spiritual protection. The second reason has to do with the belief that through sympathetic magic, a naturalistic portrait could be transformed into a surrogate for the human body and then manipulated for positive or negative ends. For instance, in preventive medicine called idira or is6ra (fortifying the body), a portrait, infused with charms, is kept in a secure place or a shrine to immunize the referent from witchcraft and infectious diseases.42 In sorcery called dsdsi (evil spell) or edi (tethering), an image may be gagged or strangled or have sharp objects driven into the eyes, ears, or throat to disable, maim, or kill the person it represents. In another type of sorcery called dpeje (instruct and obey), the subject is hypnotized, via a sculpted portrait, to act or behave irrationally, such as dancing without music or laughing at random for no justifiable reason. In some cases, a physical likeness is not necessary; giving the image the subject's name or attaching an article from his or her body (such as clothing, a lock of hair, or a nail paring) will suffice.43 Yoruba diviners trace most acts of sorcery to twon ayg, the evil-minded ones, such as witches, sadists, rivals, jealous neighbors, enemies, or close relations who either have a few old scores to settle or simply envy the success of another individual. Of major concern is Esfi, the unpredictable trickster, divine messenger, and controller of fate who could be benevolent at one moment and malevolent the next, capriciously turningjoy into sorrow, and vice versa. He is the agent provocateur who plays a lot of pranks with a view to reforming humanity. Like the trickster motif in other cultures, Esfu embodies what Lewis Hyde calls the "paradoxical category of sacred amorality" by which societies articulate and regulate their social life and behavior.44 That is why the Yoruba code of ethics enjoins everyone to be courteous, sociable, respectful, humble, diplomatic, and to "bear both wealth and poverty stoically."45 Also, one must exercise self-control in the face of provocation or temptation; one must learn a lesson from the Olofeffinra myth. According to the myth, Olofefiunra, a deity in ancient Ife, had a peculiar way of welcoming visitors to its grove by laughing loudly and making humorous remarks as though he was reuniting with old and long-missed friends. But should any visitor reciprocate, his or her facial features "would remain permanently fixed in the contortion of mirthless laughter!"46 By the same token, it would be risky to allow oneself to be portrayed in a naturalistic and overtly

6 Esu statue, Yoruba, formerly located in Igbajo, soapstone, h. 24 in., ca. 19th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: author, 1995) expressive manner; there is the fear that enemies might read arrogance into an innocent smile, steal the portrait, and instigate a sorcerer to harm the subject through it.47 This explains why naturalistic portraits are few and far between in Yoruba art and there is little interest in physiognomy, that is, the use of the face to reveal the "soul" or character of the
subject.48

Ako and Ipdde: Naturalistic Second-Burial Effigies for the Dead However, during second-burial ceremonies for the dead, naturalistic portraits appear with some frequency (Figs. 7-12).49 This can be attributed to two major factors. The first derives from the belief that the soul of a deceased person now operates at a superhuman plane of existence and so is immune to sorcery.50 The second is that the mnemonic power of a life-size naturalistic effigy (dk6)vivifies the presence of the

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7 Unclothed second-burial effigy representingthe chief of a villagenear Owo,wood and paint,1949 (photo:Justine Cordwell)

8 View of Fig. 7 partiallydressedfor a parade through the village (photo:Justine Cordwell)

dead during the second-burialceremony, enabling mourners to treat the image as if it were al*e. The costly ceremony usually takes place some days or weeks after the burial of the corpse and is normally performed only for the rich and famous as well as for those who had lived to a ripe old age and were survived by children.5l One of the reasons for the ceremony is that it would enable the deceased to carryover to Ehzn-Iwa (the Afterlife) the high statusachieved on earth. Not until the performance of this ceremony will the soul of the deceased leave the community. Failure of the children to do so in time or after a reasonable period may cause the soul to haunt them in the form of a ghost. In addition, as an artist must have been aquainted with the deceased to produce his or her visuallikeness, the longer the intervalbetween the first burial (of the real corpse) and the second (of the effigy) the weaker the artist's pictorial memory of the deceased. To circumvent this problem, an artist is allowed to use as a reference point the face of a child who closely resembles the

deceased.52This partly explains why some second-burialeffigies look much younger than the deceased at the time of death. Thanks to modern photography, many families now keep photo albums from which a good picture of the deceased (usuallyin his or her middle age) may be selected and given to an artistto translateinto a second-burialeffigy. Since the image is usuallycostumed, the carverpays most attention to the head, forearms, and legs, leaving the other parts of the body relativelyunfinished (Fig. 7). During a typical akoceremony, the effigy, dressed in the best clothes of the deceased (Fig. 8), would be displayed in his or her residence for a few days to allow friends, relations, and well-wishersto pay their last respects. Specially designated family members chant the ariks (eulogy) of the deceased at regularinterwls. For example: Oronaye (O!) Mayyou be fortunate Mayyour fortune last

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You, who have the great sword.... The sharp sword that draws blood The one of great fame My father is the great one being celebrated A popular man of 0w6!o Great men of 0w6, my father is the great one being celebrated.53 After the indoor ceremonies, the image would be carried in a public procession around the town accompanied by survivors, all singing and wishing the deceased a happy retirement in Ehin-Iw, the Afterlife: Do not eat millipedes Do not eat earthworms It's what they eat in the Afterlife That you should eat May you fare well Until we cross paths Until you appear in our dreams Shall we meet again.54 Through the effigy, messages are sent to long-dead ancestors. At the same time, the newly dead is beseeched not to forget the living and to use his or her spiritual powers to protect them.55 After the public procession, the effigy is buried, destroyed, or abandoned in the forest.56 ,:-, Figure 9 is a portrait of the late Queen Ameri Olasubude of Ow6, carved by Lamuren for Olasubude's second-burial ceremony in 1944. The portrait, however, was rejected by the family of the deceased on the grounds that the artist did not

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. 10 Full view of Fig. 9 on display in the Ow6 Museum of Antiquities (photo: Robin Poynor, 1973) achieve enough idealization. For instance, the toes and fingersof the figure are touching one another (Fig. 10) instead of being carved separate, as required by tradition.57 Unlike the dk6,which is almost always a full figure that can be displayed in a seated position by virtue of its articulated body and limbs, the ipade (a hunter's second-burial memorial) is usually unarticulated. Only the head is finished, with the rest of the body given a rudimentary treatment, as in the portrait of Chief Aniwe, one of the most powerful hunters in Ife before his death in 1962 (Fig. 11). It was carved by Taye Adegun. A short stick nailed to the chest of the figure serves as the shoulders for fitting one of the garments of the deceased (Fig. 12).5 In some cases, two sticks shaped like a cross and draped with a hat and garment of the deceased may serve as a substitute for a naturalistic effigy.59 A portrait statue carved by Taiwo Fadipe of the late Chief Akinyemi Osogun of Ife, a high-ranking priest of Ogun (iron and war deity) who died in 1964, was later acquired by the Ife Museum of Antiquities. In 1976, I took a print of the statue to the compound of the deceased, where I compared it with a photograph of him. The statue bore only a faint resemblance to the deceased, but the three marks (dbajd) on the cheeks are exactly the same as those on the photograph, conceivably creating enough likeness for those who knew Chief Akinyemi Osogun when he was alive.60

9 Lamuren, second-burial effigy (ako) of Queen Ameri Olasubude, detail of face, Ow6, Nigeria, wood, paint, and fabric, 1944. Ow6 Museum of Antiquities (photo: Robin Poynor, I 1973) I

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12 View of Fig. 11 costumed and abandoned in the forest, 1962 (photo: Frank Willett)

11 Taye Adegun, unclothed memorial (ipdde)figure of Aniwe, a famous hunter, Ife, Nigeria, wood and paint, approx. 40 in., 1962. Ife Museum of Antiquities (photo: author, 1976)

That the memorial function of the "lifelike" image has a long history in Yoruba culture seems to be attested by the discovery at Ife of several naturalistic, life-size brass heads dated between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries C.E. (Figs. 13, 14).61 Some of them wear crowns, while others have holes around the hairline, apparently for securing real headgears or crowns. Amost all the heads have holes at the neck (Fig. 13), indicating that they might have been nailed to wooden torsos and attired in the same manner as the tk6. Consequently, Justine Cordwell and Frank Willett have suggested that most of the heads were probably used in funeral or second-burial ceremonies for kings and other distinguished persons.62 This speculation has been questioned on the grounds that the creation of a funeral effigy for a king (oba)
is incompatible with the public perception of him as a divine

being who does not die but simply disappears "into the earth."63 In view of a ceremony in present-day Okukfi during which the king of the town makes sacrificial offerings to his "inner head" (ori inu) in a special room inside the palace

where many beaded crowns are displayed, though not on portrait heads, Henry Drewal is of the opinion that the life-size Ife brass heads might have been "created to display actual regalia in a shrine context," perhaps during an annual rite of purification and renewal for the king and his people.64 While the possibility cannot be ruled out altogether, it does not necessarily follow that all the heads performed only this function in the past. Neither does the public perception of the king as divine automatically preclude him from being honored with a second-burial ceremony. Despite the king's liminal status and the secrecy surrounding his death and burial, it is public knowledge that he is a flesh-and-blood human being who reigns and then passes away. The popular saying "Oba m6wa; igb/a mewa" (Ten kings; ten epochs) makes it clear that the notion that the king does not die is only a metaphor for the antiquity and continuity of divine kingship among the Yoruba. As to be expected, a good king would be fondly remembered; a bad one could be impeached by a council of elders (called Ogboni in some areas) and if found guilty of a serious offence, forced to commit suicide or executed. In fact, some unpopular Ife kings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries met with violent deaths at the hands of their subjects.65 Moreover, a king's mortality is explicit in the word ab6bakti,referring to "those who die with the king" in order to serve him in the Afterlife.66 The question then arises: If chiefs and other important persons could

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be honored with a befitting farewell or second-burial ceremony-to enable them to carry over to the Afterlife the high status achieved on earth-why not the king himself, the most distinguished individual in a given community? That the ceremony was performed for kings in ancient Ife may be inferred from a legend that palace officials once colluded with court artists to delay the appointment of a new king. Instead of disclosing the death of the incumbent king to the relevant authorities, these officials installed his effigy in a dark corner of the state room and continued to conduct business as usual, issuing orders on behalf of the dead king. The senior chiefs and members of the public unsuspectingly paid homage to the effigy until the deception was uncovered.67 This legend has two implications. First, it suggests that the plotters had misappropriated an effigy that could have been used eventually for the second-burial ceremony of the same king and which, predictably, would have received a similar homage and befitting farewell messages. Second, it corroborates the thesis that the holes around the hairline of the life-size Ife heads (Fig. 13) might have been used for securing a beaded crown with veil (some still have bead fragments) that would have covered the face-as they normally do when worn by the king (Fig. 22).68 The holes around the mouth probably sported a combination of beard and mustache that would have further obscured the face, thus enabling the alleged conspiracy to succeed for a while. Finally, that second-burial ceremonies for kings were common in the past is evident in the Adamuoi6risa(Ey6) obsequy of the Aw6ri Yoruba of Lagos.69 Until recently, a new king would not be allowed to perform certain rites until he had "completed the final funeral ceremonies of his predecessor ... which included the staging of the Adtamuorisa. . . .70 Two of the most memorable Adtamiuorisia were performed for Oba (king) Akitoye on February 20, 1854, and for Oba Dosumu on April 30, 1885.71 However, unlike the dko figure, which may be carried in a public procession, the Adamuoi6risa (Eyo) second-burial effigy for a deceased king is displayed inside the palace only. The effigy is usually a banana tree trunk dressed up in expensive clothes and made to look like a real human figure wearing a hat or crown, though the face is covered with cloth. The display is accompanied by drumming and eulogizing, as is done for an dk6figure. On the last day of the ceremony, hundreds of Eyo masquerades in white robes participate in a public parade to bid the deceased the last farewell.72 Since a king's corpse is sometimes dismembered for ritual purposes, a second-burial effigy is, as it were, a "re-membering" of that body, providing a unique opportunity for a farewell ceremony that would enable the deceased to carry over to the Afterlife the high status achieved on earth. There is ample evidence that the Ife heads might also have functioned in interregnum, succession, and/or coronation ceremonies, among others. According to a Benin oral tradition, before the fourteenth century, the head of a deceased Benin king (oba) was taken to Ife for burial and, in return, a brass head would be sent to Benin along with other royal emblems to confirm the successor on the throne. This is because Oranmiyan, one of Odfiduwa's youngest sons, founded the Eweka ruling dynasty in Benin between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and ruled there for a

13 Head of an o6ni (king) of Ife, Yoruba, Ife, brass, h. 12316in., ca. 12th-15th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: copyright 1979 Dirk Bakker)

while before returning to Ife, where he eventually died.73 The Benin practice may very well be a variation on an ancient Yoruba ritual of removing the head of a deceased king and using it for the transfer of royal power to his successor.74 The latter then kept the head "among his principal objects of worship."75 Could the need to preserve the heads and memories of famous kings for a longer period have led to the creation of their likeness in brass? If so, could this phenomenon be responsible for the scarcity of the life-size royal heads? As yet, only about sixteen or so have been recovered out of almost fifty rulers on the Ife king list.76 Even then, only a handful of the heads can now be positively identified with particular individuals. The mask in Figure 14, for instance, is said to represent O6ni (king) Obaluif6n, the son of Osangangan Obamakin, an Ife indigene who succeeded Oduduwa

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14 Mask said to represent Obaluf6n, Yoruba, Ife, brass, h. 11%5/in., ca. 12th-15th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: copyright 1979 Dirk Bakker)

probably because he sided with the latter in his quest for political supremacy.77 Obalff6n (also known as Alayemoore) ascended the throne after his father's death but reigned for only a short period before being deposed by Oranmiyan, who had earlier left Ifr to found ruling dynasties in Benin and Old Oy6. Obaluf6n was recalled from exile to reoccupy the Ife throne after the death of Oranmiyan. The exact time of his reign is unknown, though some historians are inclined to put it at the beginning of the second millennium C.E. He is said to have changed the title of the Ife king from ol6fin (owner of the palace)-introduced by Odfiduw?a-to ooni (owner of the land) to indicate the return of the Ife indigenes (that is, the pre-Odfiduwa people) to power.78 Before Obaluf6n ascended the throne, Ife had been constantly raided by the Igb6, a pro-Obatala group in exile that refused to acknowledge Oduduwa's sovereignty. This group was defeated, pacified, and reintegrated into Ife society during Obalufofn's reign, when the city witnessed an unprecedented era of peace, cultural development, and economic prosperity.79 Obaluf6n is remembered today as a great patron of the arts and as the

one who introduced brass casting to the Yoruba. Thus, it may very well be that the tradition of making life-size brass heads at Ife began during his reign. The stylistic similarity of this mask to the other life-size heads, dated between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, suggests that it was probably made within the same period.80 Despite the popular legend that Odfiduwa originated the bead-embroidered crown (which he then gave to his sons, who subsequently left Ife to become kings in other parts of Yorubaland), Obaluf6n is regarded as the epitome of that crown, apparently because of his long, peaceful reign and his exemplary leadership. This may explain why at the coronation of a new king in Ife, the crown would first be placed on Obalufon's "head"-a stone being put on a new king's head.81 The openimage-before ings below the eyes of the Obaluf6n mask suggest that it was worn on the face. It is therefore not impossible, as Suzanne Blier has proposed, that the mask might be integrally linked to this ceremony and "the related rites of rulership transition" in the past, reflecting Obalufo6n's legendary contributions to the early formation of the Ife state and his posthu-

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15 Head said to represent Lajuwa, Yoruba, Ife, terra-cotta, h. 12l/e in., ca. 12th-15th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: copyright 1979 Dirk Bakker)

mous deification and association with prosperity and good


government.82

group came to Ife from the northeast, which some scholars have identified with the Nile valley or the Arabian Peninsula.85

A terra-cottaportrait head assigned to the same period as the Obalufon mask (Fig. 15) is said to commemorate the usurper Lajuwa,the chamberlain who temporarilyseized the throne after the death of Ooni Aworokolokin, Obalufon's successor. There is an allegation that Aworokolokin did not died by belong to the Oduduwafaction and that he "probably some foul means at the hands of his courtiers, after his wife had been abducted."83Lajuwa reportedly hid his corpse, wore the royal regalia, and started impersonating the king. The disguise succeeded for some time apparentlybecause, as mentioned earlier, the fringe of the beaded crown normally obscures the face of the person wearing it (Fig. 22). But the trick was soon uncovered and Lajuwa was executed along with accomplices, although his name continues to appear in some Ife king lists.84Lajuwa'slong, wavyhairstylemight lend some credence to this story in that it seems to betray his mixed ancestry, recalling the legend that Oduduwa and his

Be that as it may, the palace conspiracy cited earlier is so similar to Lajuwa'sthat one is tempted to take the two as different versions of the same event. Yet they could very well refer to separate events. The chances are that Lajuwa had exploited an established tradition of using an effigy or a human surrogate to represent or impersonate the king when he could not be physically present in court or at a public ceremony. The cover provided by the beaded crown with fringe might have encouraged this tradition, apart from the fact that, in the past, the king frequently used an interpreter who already knew what to say. Even today, some kings are barely audible, leaving the interpreter to speak on their behalf which conceivably might have made it easier in the past for an impersonator to pass for the king. For example, a Old Oyo, whose ruling dynastywas founded by Oranmiyan (who later returned to Ife to depose Obalufon during his first

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16 Head with a wrinkled face, Yoruba, Ife, terra-cotta, h. 6 in., ca. 13th-14th century. Ife, Obafemi Awolowo University Collection (photo: Frank Willett)

term in office), a court official called Osiefa specialized in impersonating the king legitimately wearing his crown and receiving the same honors due the king when the latter could not be physically present at a particular ceremony.86 While there is no evidence as yet that a similar official impersonated the king in ancient Ife, it is significant that one of the early Ife kings, Oo6ni Giesi, often asked his daughter (Debooye) to represent him at certain ceremonies because he was too old to attend.87 The question then arises: Could some of the Ife life-size heads have been made at the beginning of a new king's reign with surrogate, ritual, memorial, and other functions in mind?88 The answer to this question must await further investigation. Nonetheless, the prominence given to royal regalia and bearing in many of the underlife-size portraits in the Ife corpus (Fig. 1) hints at a court art patently concerned as much with the personal appearance of the living as with the collective memory of the dead. After studying them for more than four decades, Frank Willett, along with other scholars, has observed that many of the Ife life-size heads share certain "family resemblances" both in form and style. However, it is not clear at the moment

whether all of them were made by only one artist, artists from the same workshop, or artists from different workshops, removed in time and space.89 The similarities of the faces could be due to the fact that the artists probably did not work directly from life models, and therefore had to depend partly on memory and partly on time-honored formulas for representing the human face. Note that a good majority of the heads have a dignified look, with relaxed facial muscles; there is little or no attempt to express emotion. This idealization recalls the premium placed by the Yoruba on composure, suggesting, at the same time, that the artists might have been working within a stylistic idiom presumably aimed at relating all the individuals portrayed as Omo Oduduwd, or members of the same "extended" family.90 Jean Borgatti has observed a similar tendency in other parts of Africa, namely, the downplaying of "individual" in favor of "social" identity, when an artist simplifies the face to conform to archetypes handed down from the past, though there is enough room for artistic inventions within a given stylistic convention.91 Not all the naturalistic figures from Ife and Ow6 had functioned in second-burial contexts. This is confirmed by the fact that some are not life-size, while others have their mouths gagged, recalling the custom of muzzling the victims of human sacrifice to prevent them from cursing the headsman.92 We are also reminded of edi, the sorcery (mentioned above) for rendering a person tongue-tied. One striking terra-cotta figure excavated from Obalara's land (Ife), dated between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (Fig. 16), wears a skull pendant around the neck; the face is contorted, with the mouth wide open, revealing the tongue. Other figures from the site have swollen faces.93 The finding of such representations amid ritual vessels and several human skulls and bones has led to the hypothesis that the site "must have some direct relevance to human death" and that "the terraritual."94 cottas also may have played some part in post-mortem It is significant that the site belongs to the Obalara5family. The head of the family is a priest of Owinni, a deified ancestor whose shrine once served as a sanctuary for smallpox sufferers. This fact, as Peter Garlake points out, could very well link the terra-cottas to rites aimed at preventing the recurrence of infectious diseases in the community.95 Equally intriguing is a fifteenth-century terra-cotta representation from Ow6 (about eighty miles southeast of Ife) of a basket filled with severed heads slashed on the face (Fig. 17). According to Chief Obadio, the high priest of Oduduwa in Ife, human sacrifice was offered to the deity in the past and that "terracotta human heads adorn the ritual spots."96 In that case, can we regard this basket of heads from Ow6 as a variation of the practice at Ife?97 Or are the heads substitutes for real ones in between major sacrifices? Insufficient archaeological evidence makes it impossible at the moment to answer any of these questions with confidence. What seems to be fairly certain is that in the past, naturalistic portraits had precise, limited, and specialized functions in ritual and ceremonial contexts in which recognizability of a living or deceased person was very important. Aroyd: Imaging the Metaphysical Self Whereas in dydjora(the naturalistic portrait), a Yoruba artist endeavors to summarize the iwd, the fact of being and the

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17 Basket with severed heads, Yoruba, Ow6, Nigeria, terracotta, ca. 14th-15th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: Frank Willett)

observable and recognizable features of the physical self, in droyd (the conceptual portrait), he is more concerned with the essence of the subject or the metaphysical self. This is particularly the case with memorials used in communicating with a dematerialized soul in Ehin-iwd, the Afterlife (Figs. 18, 20). As it is invisible to the naked eye, this Other self-the soul-can only be imagined. For this reason, most altar memorials are stylized to signify the return of a dematerialized soul from telluric existence to "prenatal" spirituality, as well as its ability to be omnipresent and to intercede with the oraisa (deities) on behalf of the living. Accordingly, an artist need not know the dead to create an appropriate memorialthough he would be briefed about gender identity or any special mark worn on the face or body to identify the deceased with a family or lineage. However, after leaving the artist's workshop, the image usually undergoes etutu, a personalization or naming ceremony aimed at establishing a spiritual kinship between object and subject. The ceremony varies from place to place. In some cases, it involves the dipping of a memorial into the water (omi iweku) used in washing the corpse of the deceased and preserved for this purpose. In other cases, the image may be rubbed with the soil (ilepa) collected from the grave of the deceased. Thereafter, a given image may be placed in a shrine, becoming the focus of prayers, oriki (eulogies), and libations intended to influence the deceased. The shrine figure performs three major functions in Yoruba religion. First, it is an dmi (a signifier), objectifying the human essence of the signified, making visible the invisible, and providing a locus of veneration and devotion. Second, since art (ond) commands admiration-as indicated by the popular Yoruba name Onaneye (literally, Art is honorable)-a memorial sculpture is ohun eye (a dignifier), reflecting the high esteem in which the deceased is held. Third, it is droko(a visual metaphor), embodying a message; for example, the motif of a mother and child reminds a female ances-

18 Equestrian image said to represent Alaafin Sang6, Yoruba, Oy6, Nigeria, wood, h. 38 in., ca. 19th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: author, 1973)

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tor of her maternal duties as a provider and nurturer, while a lance-holding male figure implores an ancestor so depicted to play the role of a protector.98 These functions would seem to account for the frequent use of the equestrian warrior motif (jagunjagun) to memorialize male ancestors, in an attempt to secure their benevolence and divine protection. A nineteenth-century example is said to commemorate Alaafin (king) Ofinran (Fig. 18), a grandson of Oduduwa and one of the earliest kings of Old Oy6, whose reign is often dated somewhere in the fourteenth or fifteenth century.99 Yoruba oral traditions identify Alaafin Ofinran, popularly called Sang6, as a great magician and warrior who led the Old Oy6 cavalry to many spectacular victories, reportedly using his magical powers to attract the thunderstorm to overwhelm his enemies in the battlefield. On his death, he was deified and identified with thunder power. Alleged to have been salvaged from the principal Sang6 shrine at Old Oy6 before its destruction by the Fulani about 1835, this equestrian statue conflates the historical and the mythological aspects of Sang6-the warrior king and deified ancestor who now hurls down the thunderbolt from the sky. A similar imagery reverberates in his oriki (eulogy), often chanted in front of shrine images dedicated to him: Your eyes are white like bitter kola nut Your cheeks are round like red kola nut Fire-spitting masquerader, you frighten the big cat.... Fire in the eye, fire in the mouth, fire on the roof You ride fire like a horse!??00 Accordingly, this statue of Sang6 has a "sight-and-sound" dimension that further deepens the metaphoric meanings of dwordn. It may be classified under what WJ.T. Mitchell calls the "imagetext"-an "inextricable weaving together of representation and discourse," so that the visible becomes readable,101 and audible. Contrary to expectations, Sang6 looks quiet and serene in the statue; the horse is motionless. This manner of representation is part of a complex aesthetic strategy aimed at dissuading Sang6 from violent eruptions; it is an exercise in "latent ambiguity," underscoring the fact that an artistic representation can hardly do justice to the kinetics of the thunderstorm: the latter is better experienced than represented. The image falls into the category of what Philip Wheelwright calls the "intensive symbol," which conceals and reveals at the same time.102 One other important Yoruba tradition of memorial figure is the ere ibeji, a statuette dedicated to a dead twin (Fig. 19). Underlying the practice is the notion that while twins are physically double, they are spiritually one, and thus inseparable. If one of them should die, a statuette is made to localize the soul of the deceased. It is usually kept in a safe place in the house and sometimes given to the surviving twin to play with as if it were a doll, the main objective being to use the statuette to maintain the spiritual bond between the living and the dead. The statuette, made to reflect the gender of the deceased child, is normally commissioned from a carver on the recommendation of a diviner. When completed, the statuette is washed in herbal preparations before being handed over to the diviner, who then invokes the soul

of the deceased twin into it. Thereafter, the statuette is treated like a living child, being fed symbolically at the same time as the surviving twin is having its food. If a new dress is bought for the surviving child, a miniature is acquired for the statuette. The one held by this woman represents her deceased twin brother, who reportedly died about 1895, after which the memorial was carved.103 The picture was taken in the early 1960s. The smallness of the statue-and twin memorials in general-is both symbolic and functional: on the one hand, it reflects the fact that, in the past, a good majority of the twins died in infancy; on the other, the small size facilitates portability, especially when the statuette is given to the surviving twin to play with or when the mother dances with it in honor of the deceased twin. If both twins should die, another statuette is commissioned, and the two are treated like living children in the hope that they will be born again to the same mother (Fig. 20).104 Tradition requires the carver to give both statuettes the same facial features to emphasize the oneness in their twoness, even if the deceased twins were not identical. The statuettes are usually placed in a shrine (Fig. 23) for contacting the souls of the departed twins in the Afterlife. The belief that they are capable of attracting good fortune to their parents is reflected in the following oriki (eulogy) of twins: ...The intimate two, the royal egrets, the natives of Isokun'05 Offspring of the colobus monkey of the tree tops....106 The intimate two by-passed the house [womb] of the wealthy By-passed the house [womb] of the rich and famous.... But entered the house [womb] of the poor Transforming the poor into a rich person .... 107 Apepa [sorcery] cannot affect the natives of Isokun.... Both wizards and witches pay homage to the intimate
two. . . .108

Oj6 a ku ld a d'ere: Portraiture, Posthumous Beauty, and Social Identity The tradition of dedicating shrine figures to the dead is said to date back to an "Edenic" period in Yoruba history called igbd iwdse (literally, beginnings of existence), when human beings reportedly did not die as they do today. Whenever the physical body became too old or weak to sustain the soul within it, all an individual needed to do was to enter a cave that led to heaven, where the soul would reincarnate in a new body and then come back to resume earthly life.109 Whoever was tired of living on earth returned to heaven through the cave. Newly embodied souls entered the earth through the same cave. Some powerful figures did not depart the normal way; they simply turned into stone figures.110 This is called didi ota (the art of becoming stones). According to J. A. Ademakinwa, an indigene of Ife, where many ancient stone figures abound, such a person, prior to death, would commission a portrait that would be hidden in a place known only to a few close friends. It was these friends who secretly buried the deceased and later announced to the general public that a well-known personality had turned into stone, disclosing where the effigy had been hidden, which would then be set up as a shrine to perpetuate the memory of the

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19 Woman holding the memorial of her deceased twin brother (carved ca. 1895), Yoruba, Nigeria, 1960s (photo: courtesy Robert Farris Thompson)

deceased."1 One such stone dated to the early part of the second millennium C.E. (Fig. 21) is said to commemorate Idena, a famous hunter and one of the bodyguards of Oreluere, the custodian of indigenous traditions and domestic morality in ancient Ife, who reportedly teamed up with Obatala to challenge Odfuduwa after the latter had usurped the throne.112 Before being transferred to the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos, the statue stood at the entrance of the Oreluere shrine at Ife, the spot where Idena allegedly turned into stone. The legend that the ancient ones did not die but turned into stones resonates in the popular Yoruba saying "Ojo a ku la a d'ere, eniyan k6 sunw6n laaye" (It is death that turns an individual into a beautiful sculpture; a living person has blemishes) .1ls In other words, a person's earthly existence begins as a piece of sculpture molded by Obatala and ends with

the separation of the empirical self from its meta-empirical Other; the human body becomes a corpse, reverting, as it were, to what it was originally-an ere (sculpture). The phrase "a living person has biemishes" bespeaks the Yoruba tendency to canonize the dead. Their code of ethics demands that a loss of life be mourned, regardless of an individual's foibles before death; even former critics, enemies, and detractors are expected to pay the proverbial last respects to the deceased. Similarly, an artist is obliged to honor the dead with a wellcarved memorial, and he frequently makes the subject look younger. As Mosudi Olatunji, the famous Imeko carver, told Robert Farris Thompson in the early 1960s: If I am carving the face of a senior devotee I must carve him at the time he was in his prime. Why? If I make the image resemble an old man the people will not like it. I

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20 Twin statuettes (ereibeji),Yoruba, Nigeria, wood and metal, h. 13?/2in., 20th century (photo: courtesy George Chemeche, New York)

will not be able to sell the image. One carves as if they were young men or women to attract people."4 So it is that twin memorials (ereibeji)are often carved to recall people in their prime (Figs. 19, 20), notwithstanding the fact that a good majority of twins died in infancy.115 If naturalism (dydjora)is required, as in the life-size brass heads from Ife effigies (Figs. 7-10), the (Figs. 13, 14) or in second-burial dk6o artist idealizes the portrait, transforming it into an ere (sculpture) and emphasizing composure while ignoring accidental facial features such as scars and deformities associated with iwd, physical existence. As Rowland Abiodun points out, "The deceased person may have lost an eye, ear or even a few fingers during his life, but the [dko6 effigy allows for a reconstruction of these parts."'16 Thus, death transforms the ugly

into the beautiful; "a living person has blemishes." A memorial destined for the altar may be criticized while in the workshop of the carver, but once consecrated and placed on an altar, it is no longer criticized because it partakes of the sacredness and spiritual beauty associated with the dead."17 Thereafter, the focus is on its ritual rather than formal values. In the past, many Yoruba wore permanent face marks that identified them with particular families, lineages, or subethnic groups.118 The same marks adorn the faces of secondburial statues, altar memorials, and ancestral masks, thus relating the living to the dead and the human to the divine.119 As Frank Willett aptly observes, "It is indeed one of the surprises of living in Yorubaland that one does frequently see people whose features remind one very forcibly of a

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particular sculptural style, yet the sculptures are not portraits of individuals, but they are supposed to look as if they might be."120In short, the Yoruba style, particularly in woodcarving, combines the generic with the specific, relating the individual to the collective, stressing "social identity" and thereby epitomizing the quest for unity underlying the Omo Oduiduwa concept. This quest finds its most popular political expression in the image of the oba (king), the temporal and spiritual head of a given community and a personification of its corporate existence. In the past, the king seldom left his palace except on special occasions, and when he did, he usually wore a beaded crown with veil that partly concealed his face (Fig. 22). However, this tradition has since been modified, so that the king appears more frequently in public today without donning the crown, doing so only on certain ceremonial occasions. Most crowns have a stylized face in the front that serves as the king's official face. The same face (or a similar face-should a new king decide to replace an old crown) identified his predecessors in public and will do the same for his successors. This face, commonly identified with Oduduwa, transforms the king into a masked figure-an icon conjuring up the image of the mythical progenitor, functioning as a paradigm of the oneness of the king and his subjects, on the one hand, and of the reigning king and the royal dead, on the other.121 itinra'nit.. Is Obatfili a Self-Reflection of the Yoruba Artist? According to Yoruba cosmology, the decision of Ol6odumare (Supreme Being) to create humans was prompted by a desire to transform the primeval wilderness below the sky into an orderly estate. Human beings are called eniydn (the specially selected) because, as a divination verse puts it, they are the ones ordained "to convey goodness" to the wilderness below the sky.122 In other words, divinity abides in humanity, and vice versa. It is therefore not surprising that some of the orisd (deities) allegedly assumed human forms in order to accompany the first humans to the earth-which easily accounts for their personification in shrine sculptures and spirit mediumship. Ogun, the iron deity, led the way, using his machete to cut a path through the primeval jungle, laying the foundation for Yoruba civilization.123 The popular name Oginlana (Ogun paves the way) commemorates this archetypal event, emphasizing the importance (first) of stone and (later) of iron tools in agriculture, urban planning, lumbering, architecture, warfare, and art.124We are also reminded of Ogfn's vital contributions to the human image molded by Obatala, detailing the face and "cutting open" the eyes later activated a by Esfi. The resultant image-a "masterpiece"-embodies special dse (transformatory power), inspiring and sustaining the creativity manifested in the visual and performing arts and enabling the Yoruba collective to continually redesign its environment as well as to re-present itself through body adornments and idealized or conventionalized portraiture. As one divination verse remarks: If I am created, I will re-create myself I will observe all the taboos Having been created, I shall now re-create myself.125 Three major questions remain, however. Since the creativity

21 Image of Idena, hunter and gatekeeper, granite-gneiss, h. 401/2in., ca. llth-12th century. Lagos, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (photo: author, 1995)

deity Obattila also assumed an anthropomorphic form in order to accompany the first humans to the earth, was the archetypal human image a self-portrait? Or was Obatala originally a mortal who once lived in ancient Ife and was deified as an 8risdfor his phenomenal creative endowment? Or was he a figment of the imagination and a self-reflection of the Yoruba artist? That Ob;atalawas a deified culture hero, if not a self-reflection of the Yoruba artist, is evident in the popular Yoruba saying "Bi eniyan k6 si, orisa k6 si" (No humanity, no deity).126In other words, the worshiped depends on the worshiper for its existence; divinities are human constructs.127Put differently, it is eniydn (humanity) that visualized and anthropomorphized the orisd (divinity), simultaneously inverting the process to rationalize its own creation. This act of self-reflection and self-re-creation (ituinra'nite) constitutes the divinities (6risd) into a sort of superhuman Other-an extension of the metaphysical self-providing a basis for involving them in the ethics, aesthetics, poetics, and politics of human existence. It has resulted in a conventionalized form of portraiture that easily relates the self to the body politic, called Omo Oduduwt,128on the one hand, and to the superhuman Other, venerated as Olodufimare,the orist (divinities), and deified ancestors, on the other. Whether Odfiduwa (the Yoruba mythical ancestor) is an earth goddess or a historical male figure

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22 Alaye (king) of Ode Remo in royal regalia, Yoruba, Nigeria, 1950s (photo: courtesy Ministry of Information, Western State of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria)

is not an issue here. Much more important is how the concept of a common ancestor (aldjobi)has been used to create a sociopolitical framework and a mode of portraiture in which myth and reality, word and image, the human and divine are intricately joined to forge aYoruba identity out of previously diverse, even if related, groups. Iworan: Portraiture, Spectacle, and the Dialectics of Looking Since the face is the seat of the eyes (oju), no discussion of aworan (representation), especially portraiture, would be complete without relating it to iworan, the act of looking and being looked at, otherwise known as the gaze. To begin with, the Yoruba call the eyeball eyin ojf, a refractive "egg" empowered by ase (mediated by Esfi), enabling an individual to see (riran). As with other aspects of Yoruba culture, the eyeball is thought to have two aspects, an outer layer called oju ode (literally, external eye) or oju ldsdn (literally, naked eye), which has to do with normal, quotidian vision, and an inner one called ojuiint (literally, internal eye) or ojt okdn (literally, mind's eye). The latter is associated with memory, intention, intuition, insight, thinking, imagination, critical analysis, visual cognition, dreams, trances, prophecy, hypnotism, empathy, telepathy, divination, healing, benevolence, malevolence, extrasensory perception, and witchcraft, among

others. For the Yoruba, these two layers of the eye combine to determine iworan, the specular gaze of an individual. The stress on the root verb, w6 (to look at), clearly shows that twordn (portrait or picture) is a "lure" for the gaze-to borrow Jacques Lacan's term.129 As noted earlier, the term dw3rdnis a contraction of a (that which), wo (to look at), and rdnti (to recall [the subject]), alluding both to the capacity of a representation to recall its referent and to an artist's preliminary contemplation (d-w6) of the raw material and the pictorial memory (irdnti) involved in visualizing and objectifying the form. As Lacan has pointed out, the act of looking is influenced by a host of factors, such as desire, mood, knowledge, cultural milieu, and individual whims and caprices, and it is a reciprocal process as well. What we see (animate or inanimate) also "sees" us and has a particular way of relating to our eyes.130 This illusion is most striking in dwordn (especially a portrait), which stares back at the aworan (spectator), turning him or her into an iran (spectacle), if not another picture (woirdn).131 The fear that a viewer may subjectively read into a portrait's gaze what was not intended by the artist or the subject may very well be one of the reasons why many Yoruba in the past (especially the rich and privileged) refrained from having themselves portrayed naturalistically or in a manner that may trigger jealousy in the have-nots and awon aye (the evil-minded ones). A divination

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verse sums up the mutual suspicion associated with the gaze in the following manner: You are looking at me; I am looking at you. Who has something up his/her sleeves between the two of
us?132

Some may resent how a portrait seems to snub them; others may be frustrated by something they see about themselves in that portrait-something they subconsciously want to be but, somehow, cannot be. It is as though the achievements of one person have hindered the progress of another. It should be pointed out, however, that naturalistic effigies of the dead are not treated with the same suspicion, being primarily intended to mark their last physical, even if symbolic, appearance among the living. The popular saying "Okfi ol6mo ki i sun gbagbe" (Those survived by children do not sleep forgetfully)133 explains why most second-burial portraits have their eyes wide open (Figs. 7-12). It is an appeal to the departed to remain vigilant in the Afterlife, protecting the interests of their living relations and interceding with the deities on their behalf.134 When installed indoors, seated on a stool, a second-burial effigy receives many salutations, becoming dpew6 (a focus of the gaze) and recalling the phrase "It is death that turns an individual into a beautiful sculpture; a living person has blemishes."135 Some relations would look at the effigy straight in the eyes while chanting the onrki (eulogy) of the deceased, imploring its soul not to stay too long in the Afterlife before reincarnating as a newborn baby. Former peers may talk to the image, calling the deceased by name and pledging to assist in completing any unfinished project or in ensuring that the toddlers left behind do not suffer. In 1967, at the second-burial ceremony (ipdde) of a hunter at If6, near Abeokuta, I witnessed what the Yoruba would call dwosunkiin, that is, "look and cry." The effigy had just been delivered to the family by the carver and was taken to the backyard of the house for a dress rehearsal before the real ceremony began in the evening. It was rendered in the same style as that of Chief Aniwe (Figs. 11, 12), except that it had three vertical marks (pel) on the cheeks. Placed against the wall, the effigy was fitted with a cotton smock (ddnsiki) and a pouchlike hunter's cap (ddir6). Then, some people knelt down and prayed in front of it. But the children of the deceased just stared speechlessly at the effigy, unable to control the tears welling up in their eyes and running down their cheeks. For them, it was a sad reminder of a physical self-once full of life, energy, and enthusiasm-now gone irretrievably with the past, to be encountered in an immaterial form only in dreams, visions, and flashes of memory, according to the dirge cited earlier.136 Whereas most second-burial figures are life-size and intended for public and open-air display, a good majority of the altar figures are smaller in scale, being designed to fit into private, prosceniumlike indoor spaces or small rooms serving as sites for offering periodic prayers and sacrifices to the deities or ancestral dead. Here the view of the figures is restricted to a handful of people such as the priest in charge or the owner of a given altar and those seeking spiritual assistance. Nonetheless, the diminutive and schematized forms of most altar figures, barely visible in the dimness of an

indoor shrine, tend to place the figures at a considerable remove from the worldly, creating an illusion of an otherworldly space into which a beholder gazes in awe of the sublime (Fig. 23).137 With protruding eyes and looking like extraterrestrial beings, the figures (especially those with welldefined pupils) return the viewer's gaze so fixedly as if seeing beyond the visible or reading the viewer's mind. In the scopic encounter (and from the author's personal experience) one soon begins to identify with, or see oneself in the figures-not necessarily in the Lacanian sense of a mirror image in which the self is alienated138 but, rather, in a futuristic sense (as the figures are not mimetic) of what this mortal self shall eventually and inevitably become: an ere (sculpture). This calls to mind, once again, that popular saying "It is death that turns an individual into a beautiful sculpture...." Some altar figures (especially those without clearly defined eyes) seem to look inward, as if in a reverie, or as if meditating on the fate of humanity.139 The Yoruba ambivalence toward the gaze is summed up in the popular phrase "Ejeji la a wo eniyan; bi 6 bi se yinyin, a se eebui" (We look at a person in one of two ways: either to commend or to condemn).140 The positive aspect, which elicits commendation (iyin), has to do with the adun (pleasures or benefits) derived from looking or being admired. What attracts and nourishes the eyes (ojii) is the ewd (beauty), is6na (creativity), or drd (tour de force) manifested in a given spectacle, portrait, or a work of art in general. Any striking evidence of the beautiful or the virtuosic is said to fa ojt m6ra (magnetize the eyes), bt ojuiimu (fit the eyes), becoming dw6ow-ttin-w6(that which compels repeated gaze) or dw6mdleelo (that which moors the gaze).141 The genuine or a precious object is called ojfl6w6 (literally, the eyes have money), implying that the object is so unique that "the eyes can spend any amount to look at it." An image is designated dw6yanu (literally, that which causes the viewer to gape) if it manifests such an incredibly high artistic skill as to suggest the use of occult powers. Consequently, the Yoruba use the same term, duiin(delicious), for a palatable meal and a memorable spectacle, both arousing a desire for more. In the words of a Yoruba poet: What do we call food for the eyes? What pleases the eyes as prepared yam flour satisfies the stomach? The eyes have no food other than a spectacle.... Never will the eyes fail to greet the beautiful one; Never will the eyes fail to look upon one-as-elegant-as-akob-antelope. "Egungun masks are performing in the market; let us go and watch them." It is because we want to feed the eyes.142 Thus, for the Yoruba, a verbal description, however vivid, can never match a direct observation. This is illustrated by the popular saying "Ir6hin k6 t6 afojfiba" (Listening to a report is not the same thing as being an eyewitness). The term dw&arrin (look and laugh) often refers to a funny-looking image or a satirical performance, although it may also be applied to a poorly executed portrait that exposes the subject to public derision. Any image or spectacle (such as a performance by

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23 Agbandada shrine with altar figures and twin statuettes, Yoruba, Ilobfi, Nigeria (photo: copyright 1954 Ulli Beier)

Gelede masks) that entertains and educates at the same time is called dwok6gb6n (look and learn). The term dwodunnu (look and feel the sweetness in the stomach), on the other hand, refers to a spectacle or image that fills one with joy. Yemoja, a fertility goddess and the source of all waters, is often called Awoyo (literally, the sight that fills the stomach) because of the popular belief that looking at her altar figure or into a pot of sacred water with pebbles from the Ogfun River (which is sacred to her) fills her devotees' wombs with children.143 So far, we have dealt with the benefits of looking. What are the positive sides of being looked at, directly, or indirectly through one's portrait? Compliments (iyin) from admirers about one's physical endowment, character, taste, dress, or achievements boost one's ego and confidence and may also facilitate social mobility within one's community. One becomes a gbajiumo, the Yoruba term for a celebrity, which literally means "someone known to two hundred [many]

faces."144 Since only a few achieve such a status, most people find solace in the possibility of obtaining the spiritual benefits of the gaze from Ol6dfimare (Supreme Being) and the orisd (deities). As a matter of fact, the root verb wo (to gaze or look at) also means to nurture, to look after, or to cure,145 as evident in the prayer for a newborn child, "Oldfiumare a w6o" (May the Supreme Being look at or after it). In this context, wo (look at or after) is synonymous with toju (literally, bring up under the eyes), meaning to take care of. A medical facility is Ile itioj (literally, a house for health care). A successful treatment is iwosan, a contraction of i (act of), wo (being gazed at), and sdn (be cured), or iwoye, that is, i (act of), wo (being gazed at), and ye (be saved). In preventive medicine, as mentioned earlier, the portrait of an individual may be kept in a shrine to immunize the subject from infectious diseases or sorcery. Now and then, a woman who conceived and had a child after offering sacrifices to an ancestor

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or a particular deity may return to its shrine to deposit a votive mother and child figure portraying herself and the child.146 That such portraits are under the protective gaze of the ancestors or orisdis obvious in popular Yoruba names like Ogfinw66 (Iron deity, look after this [child]) and S'angobamiw66 (Thunder deity, help me to look after this [child]). The following invocation to Ifa (the divination deity) sheds more light on this phenomenon: Ifa, fix your eyes upon me and look at me well It is when you fix your eyes upon one that he is rich; It is when you fix your eyes upon one that he prospers.147 This type of gaze is called ojuirere (the benevolent eye) or ojui ddnu (the merciful eye).148 It follows, therefore, that the Yoruba altar, called ojubo (literally, face of the worshiped), functions as a kind of mask that facilitates ifojuikojii, namely, "a face-to-face communion" between the worshiper and the worshiped, enabling the latter to appreciate the oriki (eulogy) rendered in its honor.149 It is worth noting that the most sacred symbol of a deity-an organic substance or a collection of charms-is usually concealed inside a wooden bowl with a face carved on it to provide an ocular outlet for its content (Fig. 24). Such a face also implicates Esfi, the agent of sight and receiver and courier of all the sacrifices offered to a deity.150 This brings us to the consequences of being looked at in a negative manner. To begin with, any transgression of the social, moral, or dress codes often attracts frowns (ibojuje'), uncomplimentary remarks (eebii), and such actions as may affect one's reputation or career. However, the gaze most feared by the Yoruba is that of an djg(a woman with mystical powers) or an os6 (her male counterpart), whose ojii okdn (mind's eye) is deemed to have both beneficent and maleficent aspects. Its maleficent aspect, called ojfi or6 (poisonous eye) or ojii burukui(evil eye) to popular belief-enigmatic generates-according rays that the victim's either or a body, directly penetrate through portrait, causing high blood pressure, mental derangement, malignant sores and tumors, paralysis of the limbs, infertility in men and women, epileptic seizures, and debilitating diseases, among other effects. Anyone who dies suddenly after complaining of seeing strange faces in dreams is suspected of being a victim of dwopa (literally, killer gaze). This term is also used sarcastically for an incompetent doctor (known for wrong diagnoses) and whose patients are more likely to die than survive their illnesses.'51 Aiwoo!: The Politics of ImnageConcealment The emphasis on observable representations in the current discourse of the gaze tends to ignore a practice common in sub-Saharan Africa whereby images are deliberately concealed to stress their ontological significance or "affecting presence."152 For instance, among the Baule of Cote d'Ivoire, as Susan Vogel has observed, "the act of looking at a work of art, or at spiritually significant objects, is for the most part The power and privileged and potentially dangerous.... danger of looking lie in a belief that objects are potent, capable of polluting those who see them."153 The Yoruba have a similar concept, as expressed in the popular admonition "Eni t6 ba w6 iw6kuw6, y6 ri irikfiri" (Whoever looks at

24 Ifa divination bowl (igedeIfd), Yoruba, Nigeria, wood, h. 12 in. (photo: Don Cole, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History)

the forbidden will see the fearful). In other words, delightful as looking may be on certain occasions, it could be fraught with danger at times. This is because eyin ojui,the refractive "egg" called the eyeball, could weaken or be extinguished like a lamp if exposed to the sight of the "forbidden," which, in Yoruba thought, may range from ghosts to potent charms and images. Such phenomena are called dwof6jiju (literally, look and be blinded) or dwoku (literally, look and die), depending on the mystical powers attributed to them.154 Only initiates or those whose eyes are ritually protected may safely look. The images in this category derive their mystique partly from folklore and partly from the fact that they are frequently covered up when displayed in broad daylight. For example, before being taken out of the shrine for a special ceremony in the forest, the stone images of the creativity deity Obatatlai (right) and his consort Yem66 (left) are wrapped in white cloth (Fig. 25). Tradition requires that the bearers of the images chant a special incantation, which, as Phillips Stevens puts it, "will cause the images to become lighter and their bearers more comfortable. If the incantation is not sung with a will, or if it is neglected entirely, the bearer of the images will tire and become weak."155 Conscious of the onlookers, who keep a safe distance, the bearers often turn the occasion into a performance, using cadence and body language to dramatize the sacredness and heaviness of the wrapped images. Whenever an exceptionally potent image is to be exposed in a public ritual that takes place mostly at night, a curfew is usually in force. During the event a voice warns intermittently, "Don't look at it! [Aiw6! ] "; 'You see it, you die! [ Won, Woku.]"; "Don't look at it! [Awoow!]."This is particularly the case with the Agan, a mythological being that comes out on the eve of the annual festival of masks (Odfin Egfingfin) honoring the "Living Dead." The Agan image (sometimes represented by a bundle of charms, a carving, a masked

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My escort to Ota had spent the night with his kinsmen, shut in another house, and he told me the next day that they had all been very much afraid, for they believed that Agan and Matriwo had magic which enable[d] them to "see" and attack anyone they wanted, wherever he was hidden in a house. On the last night of the festival, there is again a terrifying incursion, under the same conditions, with people locked in their houses with lights extinguished. This visitation is of Aranta. The Aranta is said to be accompanied by the voice of many animals and birds, and the sound of "witchcraft," made with a variety of
voice-disguisers.159

It is important here to draw attention to the calculated use of sound effects and picturesque language against the darkness of the night, to project a surreal vision of the unseeable while, at the same time, denying the people confined indoors access to its material representation.160 The ultimate aim is to control visual behavior and instill a reverential fear of the sacred so complex that the mere realization that one has seen the forbidden may precipitate the psychosomatic complications popularly associated with dw6f6jti(look and be blinded) or dwoku (look and die). 25 Sacred images of creativity deity Obatala (right) and his wife Yem66 (left), wrapped in white cloth to shield them from public gaze; sitting behind the images is Obalale, the chief priest of Obatala, Ife (photo: author, 1973) New Forms, Old Values: Contemporary Developments Since the turn of the twentieth century, Yorubaland, like other parts of Africa, has been witnessing unprecedented cultural, political, and economic transformations due to the impact of Western education, modern technology, and increasing urbanization. Yet manyYoruba have not totally abandoned their ancient customs. Mass conversion to Islam and Christianity, both of which associate traditional sculpture with paganism, has led some Yoruba to adopt new forms as camouflage in order to continue with those indigenous values to which they are still emotionally attached. While modern photography has encouraged a good majority to record important events in their lives through individual and family portraits, the fear lingers that a printed image is susceptible to sympathetic magic. Hence, individuals keep their photograph albums in a secure place to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Some Yoruba herbalists advise that one should hold one's breath while posing for a photograph to immunize the image against sorcery. Photographs now play major roles in a number of public and private ceremonies, either alone or in conjunction with sculptures carved in the traditional style. The image on the lap of the seated woman in Figure 26 (carved by Ajayi Ibuke in 1970) represents the current king of Oy6, Alaafin Oba Lamidi Adeyemi II, who is required to be present, in spirit but not in person, at certain public ceremonies intended to promote the social and spiritual well-being of his subjects. I took this picture in Oy6 in 1972 at the grand finale of the annual festival in honor of Sang6, one of the ancient kings of Old Oy6 who was deified and is now associated with thunder power (Fig. 18). The carved image has a photograph of Oba Adeyemi attached to stress his liminal role as a living representative of Sang6 on earth.161 All the important guests arriving at the venue bowed before the "photo-sculptural" image of Oba Adeyemi, and during the ceremony it was the focus of attention. The drummers, danc-

figure, or spirit medium) is enveloped in darkness and closely guarded by attendants holding whips. As the procession approaches an area, the residents are cautioned to put out all the lights within and outside their houses to ensure total darkness. Now and then, an eerie voice cuts through the night, followed by a chorus proclaiming the Agan's supernatural power. For example: Agan's arms are smaller than the sand fly's Its tail is not as big as the ant's Yet 1,460 men lifted Agan And could not lift it to knee level.156 One divination verse hints at the dire consequences of spying on the Agan: Do not set your eyes on me No one looks at the Orombo'57 If the Agan comes out in daytime Trees will fall upon trees; palms will fall upon one another Forests will be razed to the ground The savannah will burn out completely This is what the Ifa oracle predicted for Mafojukanmi [Do-Not-Set-Your-Eyes-on-Me] Popularly called Agan.158 According to Peter Morton-Williams, a British anthropologist who did fieldwork in Yorubaland in the 1950s, the Agan was accompanied by other "unlookable" beings during the Egfngfin festival at Ota:

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ers, and Sang6-possession priests performed before it most of the time. During the intervals, praise singers entered the performance arena, moving back and forth in front of the image and chanting the king's oriki (eulogy). The audience responded intermittently with "Ka-bi-ye-si!" (Long live the king!). At the end of the ceremony, the chief possession priest faced the image, as if it were the king himself, and wished him good health, long life, and the continued blessing of Sang6. In fact, when not in use, this carved portrait is usually kept inside the Sang6 temple in the K6so area of town, an act that metaphorically places the king (Oba Adeyemi) under the divine and protective gaze of Sango. Enlarged photographs are now a popular substitute for carved effigies in second-burial ceremonies, being buried in the same manner as the effigies.162 In some cases, a secondburial memorial for a hunter (ipdde) may be no more than an assemblage of flintlocks, hunting dress, hat, and charms, in front of which is displayed a photograph of the deceased. Those who can afford the expenses now commission naturalistic, Western-type memorials in cement, stone, or marble in honor of deceased parents.163 Yet, in times of crisis, these memorials often double as shrines for clandestine rituals enlisting the spiritual aid of the dead. There is a peculiar use of photography in twin rituals that denies the specificity of its naturalism in order to emphasize the onenessin the twonessof twins. For instance, if one of the pair should die without leaving behind a photographic image, the surviving twin is photographed in the dress of the deceased, becoming its proxy in the photograph, whether or not they are identical. This photographic image thereafter serves as a means of maintaining the twins' togetherness in life and death. If the twins are of the same sex, the photog-

27 Girl (right) wears male dress (left) to represent her deceased twin brother, gelatin silver print, Ila Oranguin, Yoruba, 1975. Tucson, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona (photo: copyright David Sprague)

26 Woman carrying image (carved by Ajayi Ibuke of Oy6), with photograph attached, of Alddfin of Oy6, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi II (photo: author, 1972)

rapher sometimes exposes the image of the surviving twin twice on the same paper, so that the living and the dead (represented by the living) appear to be sitting side by side in the print. But if the twins are of the opposite sex, the surviving twin is photographed in a male dress and then in a female's. The two images are eventually combined in the final print as if the twins had posed together (Fig. 27).164 Such photographs are thought to have spiritual powers and are sometimes placed in shrines, receiving offerings of food like the carved statuettes.165 As Marilyn Houlberg observed in the field, "The life of the survivor is said to depend on the existence and veneration of the photograph, just as it would be in the case of a wood image."166 Through this photomontage technique, contemporary Yoruba photographers perpetuate old values in new forms, especially the tradition of deemphasizing individual identity for a collective one, which, in the case of twins, affirms their sameness. In sum, despite the impact of Western aesthetics and modern technology on the Yoruba, they have not completely given up their belief in the ontological, mnemonic, and ritual significance of dwordn (representation). Art in the traditional styles continues to be made, though it is gradually being modified to reflect the dynamics of change. Naturalistic portraits of living persons (in oil painting and other media) are now a commonplace in Yorubaland, due, in part, to a growing acceptance of the documentary function of modern photography and, in part, to a significant decline in the fear of sorcery, especially among the elites in the urban areas. Sometimes, as we have seen in twin memorials, the physical likeness inherent in photography may be ignored to make it serve a conceptual and ritual function, so that the same form may be duplicated to represent the self and its metaphysical Other. In short, a strong belief in an interface of the visible and invisible, the tangible and intangible, the known and unknown makes it evident that the act of looking and seeing in Yoruba culture is much more than a perception of objects

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by use of the eyes. It is a social experience as well, involving, on the one hand, a delicate balance of culturally determined modes of perceiving and interpreting reality and, on the other, individual reactions to specific images and spectacles.

Babatunde Lawal is professorof art history, Virginia Commonwealth University. He has published extensivelyon traditional and contemporary African art, most recently The Gelede Spectacle: Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African Culture (1996). A new book,Sang6: Art, Spirit Mediumship, and Thunder Power in Yoruba Culture, is nearing completion [Department of Art History, School of the Arts, Virginia CommonwealthUniversity,PO Box 843046, Richmond, Va. 23284-3046, blawal@titan.vcu.edu].

Frequently Cited Sources


Abiodun, Rowland, "A Reconsideration of the Function of Ak6, Second Burial Effigy of Owo," Africa, Journal of the International African Institute 46, no. 1 (1976): 4-20. Abiodun, Rowland, HenryJ. Drewal, andJohn Pemberton III, eds., The Yoruba Artist: New TheoreticalPerspectiveson African Arts (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994). Akinjogbin, Isaac A., ed. The Cradle of a Race: Ife from the Beginning to 1980 (Portharcourt, Nigeria: Sunray, 1992). Beier, Ulli, YorubaPoetry:An Anthology of Traditional Poems (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970). Blier, Suzanne, "Kings, Crowns, and Rights of Succession: Obalufon Arts at Ife and Other Yoruba Centers," Art Bulletin 67 (1985): 383-401. Drewal, Henry J., and John Pemberton with Rowland Abiodun, Yoruba:Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (New York: Center for African Art, 1989). Eyo Ekpo and Frank Willett, Treasuresof Ancient Nigeria (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980). Fabunmi, Michael A., Ife Shrines (Ile-Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press, 1969). Idowu, E. Bolaji, Olodumare: God in YorubaBelief, rev. ed. (New York: Original Publications, 1995). Lawal, Babatunde, 1974, "Some Aspects of Yoruba Aesthetics," BritishJournal of Aesthetics 14, no. 3: 239-49. , 1996, The GeledeSpectacle:Art, Gender, and Social Harmony in an African Culture (Seattle: University of Washington Press). Willett, Frank, 1966, "On the Funeral Effigies of Owo and Benin, and the Interpretation of the Life-Size Bronze Heads from Ife," Man, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Insitute, n.s., 1: 34-45. , 1967, Ife in the History of West African Sculpture (New York: McGrawHill).

Notes
The first version of this article (titled "Beyond Physiognomy: The Signifying Face in Yoruba Art and Thought") was presented at a special session of the African Studies Workshop, University of Chicago, Jan. 27, 1998. I am grateful to Ralph Austen, Andrew Apter, Fredrika Jacobs, Howard Risatti, Robert Hobbs, Sharon Hill, Allan Roberts, Polly Nooter Roberts, and the anonymous Art Bulletin readers for their thoughtful comments. Special thanks are due to John T. Paoletti and Perry Chapman for their criticisms, insights, and suggestions, Lory Frankel for her meticulous copyediting, and Ulli Beier, George Chemeche, Justine Cordwell, Ron Epps, Robin Poynor, Robert Farris Thompson, Frank Willett, and Richard Woodward for photographic assistance. I would also like to acknowledge the research support provided by the Faculty Grant-in-Aid and the School of the Arts Research Leave programs, Virginia Commonwealth University. Translations are mine unless otherwise indicated. 1. See Babatunde Lawal, "The Role of Art in Orisa Worship among the Yoruba," in Proceedings of the First World Congress of Orisa Tradition, ed. Wande Abimbola (Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Department of African Languages and Literatures, University of Ife, 1981), 318-25. Whereas aworan is a generic term for all artistic representations, the word ere refers to an image in the round, that is, a piece of sculpture. The word adr denotes an intricate design or pattern, although it is also used to describe a tour de force manifested in the visual and performing arts.

2. For example, awo means plate; awo, fishing net; and awo, secrecy. 3. See also A Dictionary of the Yoruba Language (Lagos: Oxford University Press, 1968); and R. C. Abraham, Dictionary of Modern Yoruba (London: University of London Press, 1958). 4. Richard Brilliant, Portraiture(Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1991), 11. 5. See Samuel Johnson, The History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorates(Lagos: Church Missionary Society, 1921); Saburi 0. Biobaku, ed., Sources of Yoruba History (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); Wande Abimbola, ed., Yoruba Oral Tradition (Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Department of African Languages and Literatures, University of Ife, 1975); Toyin Falola, ed., Yoruba Historiography (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991); and Abiodun et al. In his extensive study of oral tradition in Africa and other parts of the world, Jan Vansina has demonstrated that, while they may not be as reliable as written documentation, oral traditions "embody a message from the past" and so can contribute much to the reconstruction of the past, provided that they are used with caution and correlated with independent evidence. See Vansina, Oral Tradition as History (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985); and idem, Art History in Africa (London: Longman, 1984). 6. The city's name Ife is an abbreviation of Ile-Ife, meaning "the place from where civilization spread to other lands." The two names are used interchangeably in the literature on Yoruba art. For consistency, I use Ife throughout this article, except in quoted passages and bibliographic references. 7. Notwithstanding the fact that they spoke different dialects of the same language, each kingdom was independent of the other and identified by a distinct name. The term Yoruba formerly applied only to the Oy6 subgroup. However, after the British colonization of Nigeria in the 19th century, the term was used to categorize all the kingdoms speaking the same language as the Oyo. For a good introduction to the history and culture of the Yoruba, see G. J. Afolabi Ojo, Yoruba Culture:A GeographicalAnalysis (London: University of London Press, 1966); and Robert S. Smith, Kingdoms of the Yoruba, 3d ed. (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988). For a comprehensive survey of Yoruba art, see Robert F. Thompson, Black Gods and Kings, YorubaArt at U.C.L.A. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971); and Drewal et al. 8.J. Olumide Lucas, The Religion of the Yorubas (Lagos: Church Missionary Society, 1948), 93-97; Ulli Beier, "The Historical and Psychological Significance of Yoruba Myths," Odu, Journal of Yoruba and Related Studies 1 (1955): 19-22; and Idowu, 25-27. For details, see Biodun Adediran, "The Early Beginnings of the Ife State," in Akinjogbin, 77. 9. For details, see John Wyndham, Myths of Ife (London: Erskine Macdonald, 1921), 13-34; Phillips Stevens, "Orisa-Nla Festival," Nigeria Magazine, no. 90 (1966): 187; Idowu, 18-27; Fabunmi, 6-7; Smith (as in n. 7), 14; and Isola Olomola, "Ife before Odfiduwa," in Akinjogbin, 51-61. 10. Adediran (as in n. 8), 90; and Isaac Akinjogbin, "The Growth of Ife from Oduduwa to 1800," in Akinjogbin, 98. 11. For details, see Abiodun A. Adediran and Samuel A. Arifalo, "The Religious Festivals of Ife," in Akinjogbin, 305-17; and Joel Adedeji, "Folklore and Yoruba Drama: Obatala as a Case Study," in African Folklore,ed. Richard M. Dorson (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1972), 321-39. See also Blier, 3, 386. 12. For a review of the evidence, see Robin C. Law, "The Heritage of Oduduwa Traditions: History and Political Propaganda," Journal of African History 14, no. 2 (1973): 207-22; Ade Obayemi, "The Yoruba and EdoSpeaking Peoples and Their Neighbours before 1600," in History of WestAfrica, ed. J.F.A. Ajayi and Michael C. Crowder, vol. 1 (London: Longman, 1971), 196-263; Isola Olomola, "The Eastern Yoruba Country before Odfiduwa: A Reassessment," in The Proceedings of the Conferenceon Yoruba Civilization, ed. Isaac A. Akinjogbin and G. 0. Ekemode (Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Department of History, University of Ife, 1976), 34-73; Ulli Beier, "Before Oduduwa," Odu, Journal of Yorubaand Related Studies 3 (1956): 25-42; Robin Horton, "Ancient Ife: A Reassessment," Journal of the Historical Societyof Nigeria 9, no. 4 (1979): 69-150; and Samuel 0. Arifalo, "Egbe Omo Oduduwa: Structure and Strategy," Odi, Journal of WestAfrican Studies, n.s., no. 21 (1981): 73-96. To further reinforce the Omo Oduiduwadoctrine, the Yoruba also call themselves Omo e e 6 ji ire? (Those who love to say, "Good morning, did you wake up k'aaddro, to the emphasis on courtesy in their culture. The quest for well?)-alluding social harmony is emphasized in the proverb "E k'aaro e oji ire ki i s'omo iya ija" (figuratively, Good neighborliness and quarrelsomeness are not compatible). 13. Idowu, 71. This prayer is necessary because Obatala is characterized in some myths as a habitual drinker who, when drunk, creates albinos, hunchbacks, cripples, and other disfigured persons. 14. For details, see Wande Abimbola, "Iwapele: The Concept of Good Character in Ifa Literary Corpus," in Abimbola (as in n. 5), 389-418; Lawal, 1974, 239-49; Rowland Abiodun, "Identity and Artistic Process in Yoruba Aesthetic Concept of Iwa,"Journal of Culture and Ideas 1, no. 1 (1983): 13-30; and idem, "The Future of African Studies: An African Perspective," in African Studies: The Future of the Discipline, Symposium Organized by the National Museum of African Art (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990), 63-89. 15. The identification of the female body with procreation was probably responsible for the taboo in the past that a woman should not engage in sculpture because it might interfere with her reproductive power. Hence, only

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postmenopausal women were allowed to do figurativepottery. Although this taboo is still strong in rural Yorubaland, it is no longer honored by the Western-educatedYoruba in the urban areas, who now allow their daughters to specialize in sculpture in art school. which 16. See Beier, 19-20. Another Yorubaword for mother is iyeor yeye, means, according to several field informants, "the one who laid me [ye] like an egg." Because of the tonal nature of the Yoruba language, it is significant to note that while yd means to visualize or fashion in any medium, yd means to draw. I am grateful to severalYoruba artistsfor the ideas expressed in this paragraph, most especially, Michael Labode of Idofoyi, Ayetoro, Ganiyu Sekoni Doga of Imeko (both interviewed in 1971), Ajayi Ibuke of Oy6 (interviewed in 1972-73), Gbetu Asude of Ife (interviewed in 1971); and George Bamidele of Osi Ekiti (interviewedin 1973). 17. The carver Ganiyu Sekoni Doga of Imeko drew my attention to a a contraction of a (act of), r6 (to think or imagine), and cognate term, drogbe, gbe (to carve). 18. The Earth Goddess is frequently represented on the altar as a pair of male and female figures to symbolize her androgynous nature and the fact that she transcends the manifestation of gender in the physical world. For more details, see BabatundeLawal,"AYAGBO, A YATO:New Perspectiveson Edan Ogb6ni," AfricanArts28, no. 1 (1995): 36-49, 98-100; Peter MortonWilliams,"AnOutline of the Cosmology of the Oy6 Yoruba," Africa, Journalof theInternational Institute 34 (1964): 243-60; and E. Roache-Selk,From African the Womb Art (Washington,D.C.: Bronze of Yoruba of theEarth:An Appreciation UniversityPress of America, 1978). 19. Although Yorubaartistshave produced worksin variousmedia, ranging from clay and ivory to stone, iron, and brass, a good majorityof them are in wood. This is partlybecause wood is easy to sculpt and partlybecause much of Yorubalandlies in the rain-forestzone with abundant trees for carving. 20. For more details, see Peter Lloyd, "Craft Organizations in Yoruba Towns,"Africa, Journalof the International AfricanInstitute23 (1953): 30-44; and Abiodun et al. 21. Abiodun, 1990 (as in n. 14), 76-77. 22. See also Kevin C. Carroll, Yoruba ReligiousCarving(London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1967), 94-95; and Tunde Akinyemi, "Is6Ona Sise,"in IseIsenbaye, ed. T. M. Ilesanmi (Ile6-If,Nigeria:Obafemi AwolowoUniversityPress, 1989), 257-59. 23. I am especiallygrateful to indigenous carverssuch as George Bamidele of Osi Ekiti, AjayiIbuke of Oy6, and Ganiyu Sekoni Doga of Imeko for their hospitality during my fieldwork. For more information on dse, see Pierre ofIfe Verger, "TheYorubaHigh God:A Reviewof the Sources,"Odu,University Journal of African Studies2, no. 2 (1966): 19-40; and Rowland Abiodun, YorubaArt and Aesthetics:The Concept of Ase,"African Arts "Understanding 27, no. 3 (1994): 68-78, 102-3. 24. For more information on onri, see Chief J. A. Ayorinde, "Oriki,"in Biobaku (as in n. 5), 63-76; Bolanle Awe, "Notes on Oriki and Warfarein Yorubaland,"in Abimbola (as in n. 5), 267-92; and Karen Barber, I Could until Tomorrow: and thePast in a Yoruba Town(Washington, Speak Oriki,Women, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991). 25. Wande Abimbola, Ifd:An Exposition (Ibadan, Nigeof Ifd Literary Corpus ria: Oxford UniversityPress, 1976), 133-34 (trans.). Yoruba text: "Bi mo ba 16w616w6/ Ori ni n 6 r6 ffun/ Ori mi iwo ni / Bi mo ba bimo lay6 / Ori ni n 6 r6 fun / Ori mi iwo ni / Ire gbogbo ti mo ba ni lay6/ Ori ni n 6 r6 fun / Ori mi iwo ni." 26. For more details, see BabatundeLawal,"Orilonise: The Hermeneutics of the Head and Hairstylesamong the Yoruba," in Hair in African Artand Culture, ed. Roy Sieber and Frank Herreman (New York: Museum of African Art; Munich: Prestel, 2000), 93-109. 27. OlabiyiB. Yai, "InPraiseof Metonymy:The Concepts of 'Tradition'and 'Creativity'in the Transmissionof YorubaArtistryover Time and Space,"in Abiodun et al., 107. 28. For details, see BabatundeLawal,"Ori:The Significance of the Head in YorubaSculpture," Research 41, no. 1 (1985): 91-103. JournalofAnthropological 29. For more on Esu, see Idowu, 78-83; Joan Wescott, "The Sculpture and Mythsof Eshu-Elegba,the YorubaTrickster," Africa, Journalof theInternational Institute32,no. 4 (1962): 337-54;Juana E. dos Santos and Deoscoredes African dos Santos, Esu Bara Ldroye (Ibadan, Nigeria: Institute of African Studies, The Yoruba Universityof Ibadan, 1971); and John Pemberton, "Eshfu-Elegba: TricksterGod," AfricanArts9, no. 1 (1975): 20-27, 66-70, 90-91. 30. Wande Abimbola, "TheYoruba Concept of Human Personality," in La notion de personne en Afrique: du Centre internationaux National de la Colloques Recherche no. 544 (Paris:Centre National de la Recherche ScienScientifique, tifique, 1971), 80. See also Lawal(as in n. 28), 91-103; and RowlandAbiodun, "Verbaland Visual Metaphors:MythicalAllusions in YorubaRitualisticArt of and Image, Ori," Word 3, no. 3 (1987): 252-70. Journalof Verbal-Visual Inquiry 31. Christopher L. Adeoye, Asa ati Ise Yoruba (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), 30. 32. In the Yorubalanguage, the word ojurefers to both the face and the eye; the eyeball is eyinojzi(the egg of the eye). The face, as used in this article, also implicates the eyes, except when it is necessaryto differentiate the one from the other. West Africa(Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana UniversityPress, 1969), 159. 34. Ibid., 97.
33. William Bascom, Ifd Divination: Communication betweenMen and Gods in

35. See also Nathaniel Fadipe, TheSociology (Ibadan, Nigeria: of the Yoruba Universityof Ibadan Press, 1970), 285-86. 36. Philip Allison, AfricanStone Sculpture(New York: Frederick Praeger, 1968), 21. 37. Labolarinde is the name of the individual being asked to go and look for Esfi's figure at the city gate. 38. Pierre Verger, Notessur le cultedes Orisdet Vodund Bahia, la Baie de tous CotedesEsclaves en Afrique les Saints, au Bresilet d l'Ancienne (Dakar, Senegal: A 1e ga / 0 nlo ninu epa atari re IFAN, 1957), 127. Yoruba text: "A1e kiurui nhan firifiri/ Opelope giga ti 6 ga / Esu ni 6 gun ori aroni 6 fi bu iyo si ob&.... / Labolarind6,ti o ba d6 bode ti o k6 bAba ni enu odi ni nro oko / On na ni 6 da oko nibiti arfgb6 1e de." See also Pemberton (as in n. 29), 25; Beier, 28; and Adeoye (as in n. 31), 32. 39. For the Yoruba, iwdhas two aspects, the external and internal; the one has to do with physicalappearance, and the other with character.Both aspects are taken into consideration in the assessmentof an individual'sbeauty (ewd). For instance, a person with a beautiful body but who has an unpleasant character is regarded as no more than a wooden doll, whereas the popular saying asserts, "Iwal'ewa" (Character determines beauty). For details, see Lawal, 1974, 239-49. 40. Robert F. Thompson, "YorubaArtistic Criticism,"in The Traditional Artistin AfricanSociety, ed. WarrenL. d'Azevedo (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana UniversityPress, 1973), 32. 41. For more on the Yoruba concept of the spirit double, see Raymond in Magic,Faith and Healing,ed. Ari Prince, "IndigenousYoruba Psychiatry," Kiev (NewYork:Free Press, 1964), 93-94; and Idowu, 173. In the case of twins some Yorubabelieve that an individualhas been born along with his or (ibeji), her spirit double. For details, see Marilyn Houlberg, "Ibeji Images of the Yoruba,"AfricanArts7, no. 1 (1973): 20-27, 91. 42. Frequently, the patient may be given some herbal mixture to drink or an amulet to wear on the body to link the portraitwith the portrayed. 43. Informantswish to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the materials. According to them, to prevent abortion or premature delivery,for instance, a piece of twine may be wound around the belly of an image representing the patient. This ritual is called oyuindide (tying of pregnancy). The twine would be removed a few weeks before the baby was due, otherwise, normal delivery would be impossible. In sorcery, the same method may be used to delay or postpone delivery indefinitely. That is why any woman with an unusuallylong pregnancy is advised to consult divinersto help trace the cause. A patient with persistent or chronic body pain is sometimes given a small effigy to be kept very close to the body so that the pain can transferinto it. After a while, the effigy is thrown into a river to cool the pain. Gagging an effigy may cause the subject to stammer or become incoherent or speechless. This is called edi (muzzling). Another form of edi involves binding up an effigy's limbs with a string to hamper movement or cause paralysis.William Fagg illustratesa bound figure in his book Miniature WoodCarvings Africa(Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, of West 1970), pl. 24, although, according to him, the function of the string is unknown. An image with a swollen leg or scrotum is expected to cause elephantiasis,though the same image may be used to effect a cure. In a special ritual called dpeta(invoke and shoot) or idppa(invoke and kill), a clay effigy is procured and then shot at with a gun or poisoned arrow. The subject is expected to die sooner or later. Among the Fon of the Republic of Benin, "powerimages"variouslycalled bocio(bo,charm, and cio,corpse) and atin vle gbeto(atin, wood, vle, resembling, and gbeto,human being) perform similar functions. Some bocio are portraitsof specific individuals,while others represent personified nature forces. For details, see Suzanne P. Blier, AfricanVodun: and Power(Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1995). Art,Psychology, 44. LewisHyde, Trickster Makes ThisWorld: Myth,and Art(NewYork: Mischief, Farrar,Strausand Giroux, 1998), 7-10. See also Lawal, 1974, 242-43. 45. Timothy A. Awoniyi, "Omolufiwabi: The Fundamental Basis of Yoruba Traditional Education,"in Abimbola (as in n. 5), 379. 46. Idowu, 11; and Fabunmi, 8. 47. As cautioned in the popular proverb:"Bi isu eni ba tfi, nse ni a a f'ow6 bo oje" (Aftercooking a good yam, one must cover one's mouth while eating it). In other words, to avoid thejealousy of the have-nots,one must not parade one's good fortune in public. See J. 0. Ajibola, OweYoruba (Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford UniversityPress, 1979), 63. 48. In the past, physiognomy was considered an important aspect of portraiture in the West. For a review of the literature, see Hans P. L'Orange, in AncientPortraiture (1947; reprint, New Rochelle, N.Y.: Caratzas Apotheosis Arte e psicologiada Brothers, 1982); Flavio Caroli, Storia della Fisiognomica: Leornado a Freud(Milan: Leonardo, 1995); Christopher Rivers, Face Value: Thoughtand the Legible Bodyin Marivaux,Lavater,Balzac,GauPhysiognomical thier,and Zola(Madison,Wis.: Universityof Wisconsin Press, 1994); Fredrika Women Artistsand theLanguageof Art Virtuosa: Jacobs, DefiningtheRenaissance and Criticism (New York:Cambridge UniversityPress, 1997); Jennifer History Montagu, TheExpression of the Passions:The Originand Influenceof Charles Le Brun's "Conference (New Haven: Yale sur l'expression generaleet particuliere" University Press, 1994); Ernst H. Gombrich, "The Mask and the Face: The and Perception of Physiognomic Likeness in Life and Art,"in Art, Perception ed. Ernst H. Gombrich,Julian Hochberg, and Max Black (Baltimore: Reality, Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 1972), 1-46; and Joanna Woodall, ed., Portraiture: (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997). Facing the Subject

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See also Daniel P. Biebuyck,ed., Tradition and Creativity in Tribal Art(Berkeley: Artin Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1969); and Robert F. Thompson, African Motion(Los Angeles: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1974). 49. A second-burial figure is called akoif it represents a deceased chief or community leader and ipadeif it represents a deceased hunter. However, the ipademay also represent those who are not hunters, including women. See P. 0. Ogunbowale, Asa IbileYoruba (Ibadan, Nigeria:Oxford UniversityPress, 1966), 60-61. 50. The following song sung during an akodisplayin Owo is also significant: I be privilegedto burymy father/ MayI be privilegedto burymy father/ "May Despite all evil machinations/ Despite all evil forces / I will carrymy father through the path of honour . . ." See Abiodun, 10-11. Note the orikifor deceased twins cited below at n. 105. 51. For more information on second-burial images, see Justine Cordwell, "Naturalism and Stylizationin YorubaArt,"Magazine ofArt46 (1953): 220-25; Willett, 1966, 34-45; Abiodun, 4-20; BabatundeLawal,"TheLivingDead:Art and Immortalityamong the Yoruba,"Africa, Journalof theInternational African Institute 47, no. 1 (1977): 50-61; and Robin Poynor, "Ak6Figuresof Ow6 and Second Burials in Southern Nigeria," AfricanArts21, no. 1 (1988): 62-63, 81-83, 86-87. 52. Abiodun, 14-15. In other cases, the child, clad in the best dress of the deceased (regardlessof whether the dress is oversize), is led around the town, functioning like a living effigy. If the deceased was a chief, the human surrogate would be greeted, addressed, and paid the same respects as one. However, the human surrogate is not buried like an effigy. See Lawal(as in n. 51), 52. 53. Abiodun, 11 (trans.). Yoruba text: "Or6nayeo / Wa na ire / Wa a bero o / Oluda iramen.... / Agada mimi ye rekun eje / Urogho ola / Ba mi t6oll 1e esfuleo / Oma ow66to6n woosin 6gh6 / Urogh6 ola, ba mi 1e esul6 o." 6run / 54. Yorubatext: "Maj'okunrun / Ohun ti w6n nje l'ajfule / Maj'ek6olo6 For Ni ki o ba wonje / 0 di gbere / 0 di arinako/ 0 di ojiuala / Ki a t6 rira." Hunters(New variantsof this dirge, see Bade Ajuwon, Funeral Dirgesof Yoruba York:Nok, 1982), 66-67; and Babatunde Olatunji, "AsaIsinku ati Ogunjije," in IweAsaIbileYoruba, ed. Oludare Olajubu (Ikeja,Nigeria:Longman, 1978), 77-78. 55. To the Yoruba, the souls of those who died prematurely do not go Such souls may relocate in foreign lands, directly to the Afterlife (Ehin-Iwd). reincarnate in bodies identical to those interred, and continue to live like normal human beings. Some reincarnatedsouls (akdaadddyd) may even remarry and have children. For details, see WilliamBascom, "TheYorubaConcept of ed. A.F.C. Wallace (Berkeley:University of the Soul," in Men and Cultures, California Press, 1960), 401-10. 56. For more information on second-burial images, see Cordwell (as in n. 51), 220-25; Willett, 1966, 34-45; Abiodun, 4-20; Lawal(as in n. 51), 50-61; and Poynor (as in n. 51). 57. Willett, 1966, 37. See also Abiodun, 14-15. 58. FrankWillet, "AFurther Shrine for a Hunter," Man 65 (1965): 66. 59. For an illustration, see Ajuwon (as in n. 54), 132, 133. 60. These face marks identify an individual with a particular family or lineage. For illustrations,see Lawal (as in n. 51), pl. 1. Two different viewsof the image are illustrated in this article. 61. See, for example, Cordwell (as in n. 51), 220-25; Willett, 1967, 26-27; and Eyo and Willett, 34. The German anthropologist Leo Frobenius was the first to bring the Ife heads to the attention of Western scholars in the early ofAfrica(1913; reprint,New years of the 20th century. See Frobenius, TheVoice York:Benjamin Bloom, 1968). 62. Cordwell (as in n. 51), 224; Willett, 1967, 23, 26-27; and Eyo and Willett, 34. Artand Leadership, 63. See, for example, RowlandAbiodun, reviewof African ed. Douglas Fraserand Herbert M. Cole, Odu,n.s., 10 (1974): 138; and Henry in Drewal et al., 66-67. J. Drewal, "Ife:Origins of Art and Civilization," 64. Drewal (as in n. 63), 66-67. 65. Akinjogbin, "Ife:The Yearsof Travail,1793-1893," in Akinjogbin, 14849. is a commonly used term, it is forbidden 66. Ironically,even though abobaku to say openly that a king (oba) has died (ku). Rather, one must use the meaning "the king has ascended the roof" to join his euphemism obawdja, ancestors. 67. See Idowu, 224-25. According to the legend, the next king was so angry with the plotters that he ordered their execution, including all the court artists involved. See also Willett, 1967, 150. 68. The fact that the crowns worn by some of the Ife brass and terra-cotta heads do not appear to have a beaded veil (Fig. 1) may indicate that between the 12th and 15th centuries, ancient Ife kings did not cover their face when appearing in public. If so, it would be unnecessaryto conceal the face of their second-burial figures. However, the absence of a veil on the crown worn by this figure cannot be taken as incontrovertible evidence that the kings of the time appeared in public without veils. From the dress of the figure, it is evident that beaded ornaments formed an important part of the royal regalia
at this time. Indeed, the Are crown, said to predate the arrival of Oduduwa in Ife, had a veil, though it is uncertain whether it was made of beads (see Adediran [as in n. 8], 84-86; an Are crown is illustrated in Omotoso Eluyemi, Oba Adesoji Aderemi: 50 Years in the History of Il-Ife [Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Ogunbiyi Printing Press, 1980], pl. 25). The Oduduwa dynasty is credited with intro-

ducing the bead-embroidered crown with veil and bird motifs to the Yoruba. But according to Olomola (as in n. 12), 56-57, the Oduduwa dynasty would seem to have simply used a preexisting design as a model for its beaded crown. The question then arises: Is the absence of a beaded veil on the crown worn by many of the Ife (post-Odfiduwa) king figures due to the technical problems of modeling the veil in clay and casting it in brass? Alternatively, the type of crown worn by a good majority of the Ife figures may very well belong to the category of coronets called ornkogb6fo (casual headgear) worn by the king within the palace, when his face was uncovered. 69. Bode Osanyin, "A Cross-road of History, Legend and Myth: The Case of the Origin of Adamuofirisa," in "The Masquerade in Nigerian History and Culture: Proceedings of a Workshop, September 7-14, 1980," ed. Nwanna Nzewunwa (School of Humanities, University of Portharcourt, Portharcourt, Nigeria, 1982, mimeographed), 411-14. One legend traces its origin to the 17th century during the reign of Oba (king) Addo, while another claims that it began in the 18th century when Oba Ologun Kutere was on the throne. 70. Ibid., 432-33. 71. Ibid., 410; and MichaelJ.C. Echeruo, VictorianLagos: Aspectsof Nineteenth CenturyLagos Life (London: Macmillan, 1977), 69-70. 72. As Olumide Lucas (as in n. 8), 145, has observed, "Even the Oba [the reigning king] ... may himself be an Eyo [masquerade] on that day." Since the 1940s, the function of the Admfuorisah festival has been expanded. Whereas in the past it was staged to honor only kings, chiefs, and members of the royal family, today it may also be staged to honor distinguished citizens of Lagos and to mark important events. See Osanyin (as in n. 69), 433. 73. Jacob Egharevba, A Short History of Benin (Ibadan, Nigeria: University of Ibadan Press, 1960), 12. According to Egharevba, this tradition stopped when Oba Oguola (who reigned in the 13th-14th century) requested the king of Ife to send a brass caster to teach Benin artists how to cast in metal. An Ife brass caster called Iguehae was later sent to Benin City. See also Willett, 1967, 132; and Paula G. Ben-Amos, The Art of Benin, rev. ed. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995), 20-25. 74. Nathaniel A. Fadipe, The Sociologyof the Yoruba(Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press, 1970), 206. 75. Ibid., 207. 76. For a review of the Ife king list, see Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 96-121. 77. Adediran (as in n. 8), 90; and Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 96-97. 78. Adediran (as in n. 8), 91; and Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 96-97. Aldafin (owner of the palace), the Oyo title for the king, evidently derives from olofin, which is said to have been first used by Oduduwa. 79. Adediran (as in n. 8), 91-93. Until recently, some scholars had assumed that it was Obalufon who led the Igb6 raids on Ife because he had been deposed by Oranmiyan (see, for instance, Adedeji [as in n. 11], 326-27, quoting J. 0. Abiri; and Blier, 388-89, quoting Adedeji). But, as Adediran (ibid.) and Fabunmi, 17, have pointed out, the defeat of the Igbo occurred during the second reign of Obalufon (Alaye/moore), when the Ife heroine Moremi allowed herself to be captured by the Igbo. She later married the Igb6 king, acquired knowledge of the Igb6 war strategies, and then escaped. She returned to Ife and revealed these strategies to Obalufon, and the Igb6 were routed when next they raided Ife. See also Duro Ladipo, Moremi (Lagos: Macmillan, 1971). 80. For a comprehensive review of Ife art and culture, see Willett, 1967. 81. Fabunmi, 10-11. See also Adediran (as in n. 8), 90-91; and Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 98-99, 105. 82. See Blier, 385-90. According to Frank Willett, 1967 (150), the Obalufon mask might have been worn by somebody masquerading as the king, possibly playing the role of Obalufon at certain ceremonies. 83. Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 99. 84. Willett, 1967, 57, 150; and Sir Adesoji Aderemi, "Notes on the City of Ife," Nigeria Magazine 12 (1937): 3-6. 85.Johnson (as in n. 5), 3-8; and Saburi 0. Biobaku, The Origin of the Yoruba, Humanities Monograph Series, no. 1 (Lagos: University of Lagos, 1971), 8-13. 86. See Johnson (as in n. 5), 59. 87. Akinjogbin (as in n. 10), 104. According to some accounts, Debooye later succeeded her father, although others claim that she became king not immediately, but several years later. Only a few female kings are mentioned in the If& king list, the most famous being Luwo. 88. At Old Oyo, there was a custom of commissioning a carved, though sylized, portrait of a new king to serve as his surrogate at certain public and private ceremonies. The tradition has survived at present-day Oyo (see below at n. 161 and Fig. 26). Elsewhere in Africa, among the Kuba of Zaire, it was the practice in the past to make a stylized portrait (ndop) of a new king at the beginning of his reign, which then served as his surrogate on certain occasions. This portrait was also involved in the ritual transfer of royal power from a deceased king to his successor. See Jan Vansina, "Ndop: Royal Statues among the Kuba," in African Art and Leadership, ed. Douglas Fraser and Herbert M. Cole (Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, 1972), 41-55; and Monni Adams, "18th Century Kuba King Figures," African Arts 21, no. 3

(1988): 32-38, 88. 89. See Willett, 1967, 28-30; and idem, "Stylistic Analysisand the Identification of Artists'Workshopsin Ancient Ife,"in Abiodun et al., 49-57. Because of the heads' formal and stylisticsimilarities,Kenneth Murray("AncientIfe: Letter to the Editor,"Odu9 [1963]: 71-80) has suggested that a good majority

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might have been made by one or two artistswithin a short period. Agreeing with Murray,Blier, 395-99, is of the opinion that, given the fact that most of the heads resemble the Obalufo6nmask (Fig. 14), they may very well be associated with that famous ruler. 90. The leading Yoruba historian Isaac Adeagbo Akinjogbin refers to the Omo Oduduwdconcept as the "EbiCommonwealth";that is, an "extended 1708-1818 (Camand ItsNeighbours, family."See IsaacA. Akinjogbin,Dahomey bridge: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1967), 14-17. Some of the Ife heads have striationsand raisedweals on the face, but we are not sure at the moment that such facial markingsrefer to particularindividuals.Since people with similar facial markingsare to be found in the northwesternand northeasternparts of Nigeria, hundreds of miles awayfrom Ife, is it possible that such heads refer to outsiders? It is significant, however, that some Yoruba oral traditions identify Oduduwai as coming from the northeastern part of present-day Nigeria. 91.Jean Borgatti, "Portraiturein Africa," AfricanArts 23, no. 3 (1990): Portraits and Beyond: 35-36; see also Borgatti and Richard Brilliant, Likeness (New York:Center for African Art, 1990). fromAfricaand the World 92. For illustrations,see Willett, 1967, colorpls. v, vi, pl. 62. 93. See Peter S. Garlake,"Excavationsat Obalara'sLand, Ife: An Interim 6 (1974): 111-48; and Eyo and Journal of Archaeology Report," WestAfrican Willett, fig. 30. 94. Garlake(as in n. 93), 146. For other representationsof diseased persons in Ife art, see Willett, 1967, 63, pl. 40, figs. 7, 8. 95. Garlake (as in n. 93). Arts 96. Omotoso Eluyemi, "NewTerracottaFinds at Oke-Es6,Ife," African 9, no. 1 (1975): 34. See also Willett, 1967, 68. 97. According to Rowland Abiodun, the heads represented in this basket since it wasforbidden in ancient times to sacrifice maybe those of "strangers," an Ow6 indigene in local shrines. See Rowland Abiodun, "The Kingdom of Owo,"in Drewal et al., 101. 98. For details, see BabatundeLawal,"FromAfricato the New World:Art in LatinAmerican Aesthetics in Contemporary Yoruba Religion," in Santeria Art, ed. Arturo Lindsay (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), 3-37. c. 1600-c. 1836: A West 99. RichardLaw, TheOy6Empire, African Imperialism in theEra of theAtlanticSlaveTrade(Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1977), 32-33. 100. Beier, 31. Indeed, the frequency of the equestrian warrior motif in Sang6's oriki reflects the critical role played by the cavalryin the heydaysof the Old Oy6 empire, between the 17th and 19th centuries, when its kings (aldafin)controlled a good part of northern and southwesternYorubaland. We are also reminded of the importance attached to Sang6's apotheosis during the period when his veneration as an ancestor was elevated to a state religion (transforminghim into a deity [risda]and many Sang6 priests served as tax collectors or resident governors in tributary kingdoms. For more details, see Law (as in n. 99), 104; and Morton-Williams(as in n. 18). and VisualRepresentation 101. WJ.T. Mitchell, Picture Essayson Verbal Theory: (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1994), 88-89. He defines "imagetext" as a work that combines image and text. and Reality(Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana 102. Philip Wheelwright, Metaphor UniversityPress, 1968), 94-95. 103. Robert F. Thompson, "Sonsof Thunder, Twin Images of the Yoruba," AfricanArts7, no. 3 (1971): 8-9. 104. For more on Yorubatwin memorials, see ibid., 8-13, 77-80; Houlberg (as in n. 41), 20-27, 91-92; Mareidi Stall, Gert Stoll, and Ulrich Klever,Ibeji: derYoruba/Twin (Munich: By the authors, Figures of the Yoruba Zwillingsfiguren 1980); and Babatunde Lawal, "A Pair of tre ibeji (Twin Statuettes) in the ArtBulletin41, no. 1 (1989): 91-103. Museum Kresge Art Museum,"Kresge 105. According to one Yorubalegend, twins were first born in Yorubaland at isokfunvillage in Old Oyo. 106. The Yoruba associate twins with the colobus monkey because this animal often gives birth to two babies at a time. 107. Tradition requires mothers of twins to dance frequently in public in honor of their living children or to appease the souls of deceased twins. On such occasions, they are showered with gifts of all kinds by relatives and onlookers to enable them to meet the expenses of taking care of themselves and the children. 108. 0. Daramolaand A.Jeje, AwonAsa ati Orisa Ile Yoruba (Ibadan,Nigeria: Onibon-Oje Book Industries, 1967), 282-83. 109. According to the myth, the Supreme Being withdrew this privilege, replacing it with death. 110. See also Idowu, 13. There is a tendency among the Yoruba to regard as embodiments of ancient ancestors sculptures accidentally washed out of the ground by floods or recovered in the course of laying building foundations. Such sculptures are usually placed on altarswith a view to harnessing the spiritualpower of the souls they represent. The town of Esie, about ninety miles from Ife, has more than eight hundred such stone figures. The present inhabitants of the town claim that their ancestors found the sculptures in the town when they first settled there in the 18th century, so these figures are venerated as petrified aborigines. For more details, see Allison (as in n. 36), 21-24; and Phillips Stevens, The Stone Imagesof Esie, Nigeria (New York: Africana, 1978).

(Lagos:Pacific Printing of the Yoruba 111.J. A. Ademakinwa,Ife: The Cradle Works, 1953), 40-41. 112. Idowu, 22; and Fabunmi, fig. 2. no. 9 (1970): 26. 113. Adegboyega Sobande, "Isinkuni II Yoruba,"Olokun, 114. Cited in Thompson (as in n. 40), 58. Thompson's interviews with several indigenous Yoruba carvers and critics reveal that one of the most important criteria for an ideal sculpture among the Yoruba is that it should represent the subject in the prime of life (see esp. 56-58). I have documented similar comments from carversin Osi Ekiti, Oy6, and Ayetoro in northeastern, northcentral, and southwestern Yorubaland respectively. Frank Willett (1966, 37) has also observed that an dko second-burial effigy of the late mother of Chief SasereAdetula of Ow6 (carvedin 1943 by Ogunleye Ologan) "representsher as a young woman ..." The fact that this phenomenon is evident in both naturalisticand stylizedportraitsshows that it is deeply rooted in indigenous Yoruba aesthetics and cannot be explained solely by the practice of modeling the face of a second-burial effigy after that of a child who closely resembles the deceased. A similar tradition has been recorded in Benin City. According to a legend, King Ewuare of the 15th century once commissioned the royal brass caster and woodcarver guilds to make his portrait. The woodcarvers portrayed him as he really looked in old age, whereas the brass castersdepicted him as a much younger man. King Ewuare was displeased with the woodcarvers and demoted them. See Borgatti and Brilliant (as in n. 91), 32, quoting Ben-Amos (as in n. 73). For a discussion of the concept in other parts of Africa, see Thompson (as in n. 48), 5-7. It should be noted, however, that not all Yorubarepresentationsemphasize the a pair of male and female brass figures that prime of life. In the edan bgb6ni, servesas an emblem of the Ogb6ni society, the stressis on maturity.It signifies the desire of members for long life and prosperity.See Lawal (as in n. 18), 37-38. 115. For more on Yoruba twin memorials, see n. 104 above. 116. Abiodun, 8. 117. See Lawal, 1974, 245. 118. Illustratedin Lawal, 1996, 236-37. 119. For more on Yoruba masks, see Drewal et al., passim. 120. FrankWillett, AfricanArt, rev. ed. (New York:Thames and Hudson, 1993), 212-13. 121. For more on Yoruba crowns, see Robert F. Thompson, "The Sign of the Divine King: Yoruba Beaded-Embroidered Crowns with Veil and Bird Decorations,"in Fraserand Cole (as in n. 88), 227-60; and Ulli Beier, Yoruba Sacred Beaded Crowns: of Okuku(London: Ethnographica, Regaliaof theOlokuku 1982). Variations on the Theme 122. Cited in Akinsola Akiwowo,Ajobiand Ajogbe: of Sociation (Ile-Ife,Nigeria: Universityof Ife Press, 1983), 11. See also Lawal (as in n. 104), 23-24. 123. See, for instance, Idowu, 84-85. 124. Polished stone axes and iron tools are sacred to Ogun, suggesting that the one preceded the other in his iconography. reti iseIpilelsin ni le Yoruba 125. E. M. Lijadu,Ifd:Im6ol (Ad6 Ekiti, Nigeria: StandardPress, 1908), 35. Yorubatext "Njebi a ba te mi, ng6 tun 'ra mi te / Eewo ti a ba ka fun mi, ng6 gb6 / Tite la te mi, ng6 tun 'ra mi te." and the AfricanWorld 126. Idowu, 60; and Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1976), 10. 127. For details, see Karin Barber, "How Man Makes God in West Africa: YorubaAttitudes towardsthe Orisa,"Africa, African Journalof theInternational Institute 51, no. 3 (1981): 724-45. 128. The Omo Odduwd doctrine assumed a new aspect in 1945 when Yoruba students in London formed the EgbeOmoOduduwd(Odfduwa Descendants' Club), a cultural organization charged with the responsibility of advancing the cause of the Yoruba in colonial Nigerian politics. The organization eventually developed into a political party (the now defunct Action Group) whose membership included non-Yorubapoliticians. The leader of the party,Chief ObafemiAwolowo,wasfond of wearinga special hat that soon became fashionable among his followers, enabling them to project a common identity at party rallies and conventions. See Arifalo (as in n. 12), 72. ed. of Psycho-Analysis, Concepts 129.Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental Jacques-AlainMiller, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York:W. W. Norton, 1981). 130. Ibid., 67-119. For a recent review of the literature on the gaze, see for Art History,ed. Robert F. Nelson MargaretOlin, "Gaze,"in CriticalTerms and Richard Shiff (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1996), 208-19. 131. The word iran (spectacle) should not be confused with Iran (generation) or iran (the tail of a tortoise), even though the three words have the same pronunciation. 132. Lawal (as in n. 118), 39. Yoruba text: "O nw6 mi, mo nw6 6, / Tani seun ninu ara wa." 133. See Idowu, 205; and Olatunji (as in n. 54), 79. Fairly naturalistic memorials also occur on the superstructuresof Gelede headdresses during a special farewell ceremony intended to terminate the participation of a deceased member in the annual festivals. 134. See Abiodun (as in n. 97), pl. 103. 135. Having grown up in, and traveled throughout, Yorubaland, I have witnessed several second-burial ceremonies involving naturalisticmemorials such as dko, ipide, djeej,and related forms, like the Ey6 Adamuofrisa(Eyo) effigy of Lagos, Igbogbo, and Ijebu. Unfortunately, most of these opportunities predated my research interest in the subject. More recently, I encoun-

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tered other ceremonies while on social visitsto some townsbut had no camera on me to record them. 136. However, the Yorubabelieve that the soul of a deceased parent can be reincarnated as a grandchild and begin a new life on earth. Lawal (as in n. 51), 50-61. 137. For illustrations,see Ulli Beier, A Story Wood fromOne Carvings of Sacred SmallYoruba Town(Lagos:Nigerian Printing and Publishing Company,1957). 138. See Bice Benvenuto and Roger Kennedy, TheWorks Lacan:An ofJacques Introduction (London: Free Association Books, 1986), 55-58. 139. The inward look on the face of certain altar sculptures has led some scholars to compare it to the countenance of devotees possessed by a deity. 140. I am grateful to Chief Ifayemi Eleburuibon, a famous Osogbo-based Yoruba diviner, for drawing my attention to this saying taken from the divination verse (Idikan),in an interviewon July 6, 1998. 141. For Yoruba chants meant to attract positive gazes, see David A.A. n Press, 1982). of Adeniji, OfoRere(Ibadan, Nigeria: University Ibadad l '6nje 142. Adeboye Babalola, "Oinje Oji," Ol6kun9(1970): 39: "Ki l 'a npe bi ti ny6 ikfn? / Ojfi ojfi?/ Ki 1'6 ny6 oj l' k6 'nje m6ji bik6se iran.... / okka orisi iranl'eyi mi n'irufi / Idan, orisi iran ni / EwA, / Ojfiki irwa MejipAtLki rr k'oma w6 6.... "Eggun k'6maA ki i / Enih ki adarabiegbin iko / npidan l'oja, un. . . ." jj a lo w6 6." / Onje ojiula f fi fun 143. For details, see Lawal (as in n. 118), 39 n. 3, 128-29. can be etymologized as igba (two hundred),oju 144. The word gbajumo (faces or eyes), and m6 (know). 145. Abraham (as in n. 3), 667. 146. See WilliamBascom, TheYoruba Nigeria(NewYork:Holt of Southwestern 111. and Winston, 1969), 147. Idowu, 77 (trans.). Yorubatext: "Ifa ' te ju m6 mi ki o w6 mi 're / Bi o / Bi o ba 'ow6 1'16w6o ' te jf mo 'ni la ri're." ba te ju m6 'ni lt 148. In her review of the literature on the subject, MargaretOlin (as in n. 130), 209, notes, "Thereis usually something negative about the gaze as used in art theory." This may partly be due to an emphasis on the "evil eye" in Judeo-Christian thought. According to Jacques Lacan (as in n. 129), 115, whose theory is a major influence on contemporaryhermeneutics of the gaze, "there is no trace anywhere of a good eye." In his words (118-19), "The eye may be prophylactic, it cannot be beneficent-it is maleficent. In the Bible and even in the New Testament, there is no good eye, but there are evil eyes all over the place." The existence among the Yorubaof the notion of a good eye (oju rereor oju danu) contradicts this assumption and calls for a more open-minded approach to the subject. For a critique of the paranoid implications of the Lacanian theory of the gaze, see Norman Bryson,"The Gaze in in Contemporary Discussions Culture, the Expanded Field,"in Visionand Visuality: ed. Hal Foster (Seattle: Bay Press, 1988), 104-8. 149. As a result, flattery,drumming, dancing, and commemorativedisplays are often employed to influence the deities in Yoruba religion, as Andrew and Kings:TheHermeneutics of Apter has rightly observed. See his BlackCritics Powerin Yoruba Society (Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1992), 99. For other implications of the face in Yorubaart, see Lawal (as in n. 28), 91-103. Poemsof Ifa (Zaria,Nigeria: UNESCO, 150. Wande Abimbola, SixteenGreat 1975), 233. That the otherorisa (deities) depend on Esu for vision is most evident in the iconography of Ifa, the divination deity. Most divination trays (oponIfa) have at least one stylized face said to represent Esiu,enabling Ifa to reveal the past and foretell the future. See also Bascom (as in n. 33), 34; and Hans Witte, "IfaTrays from Osogbo and Ijhebu Regions," in Abiodun et al., 58-77. 151. Abraham (as in n. 3), 667. Art ThatConceals 152. For a survey,see MaryH. Nooter, ed., Secrecy: African and Reveals(New York:Museum of African Art; Munich: Prestel, 1993). 153. Susan Vogel, Baule:AfricanArt/Western Eyes(New Haven:Yale University Press, 1997), 110. 154. According to popular belief, shortly after its abandonment at the crossroads, a second-burial effigy would momentarily be animated by the ghost of the deceased and its eyes would be filled with tears as the mourners return home. If the effigy is buried, the ghost would stand on the spot, sadly staring at the mourners. Tradition enjoins the mourners not to look back after disposing of the effigy;whoever does so runs the riskof seeing the tearful face of the figure or the ghost and would subsequently die if certain propitiatory rites were not performed.

155. Stevens (as in n. 9), 194. 156. Oludare Olajubu and J.R.O. Ojo, "Some AspectsOy6 of Yoruba Masquerades," Africa, of the International African Institute 47, no. 3 (1977): Journal 269.

157. The term Oromb6 alludes to the unseeable. 158. Solomon 0. Babayemi,Egungunamong theOy6Yoruba dan, Nigeria: (ibba Board Publications, 1980), 8-9 (trans.). Yoruba text: "MA mi / kkin fojf Enikan k6 gbod6 fojf kan Orombo / Nij6 Agan ba jtde 6san / Igi Ama w6 lu igi, 6pp Ama w6lu ope / Igb6 a majona tagbatagba/ Odan atteruwa sij6na trfiwa / A dif ffin Mfojfikanmi /jeTi i Agan." Solomon Babayemi translatesthe name Mifojfiukanmi figurativelyas "Youmust not see my face," which is correct. But I prefer the literal translationof the name, which is "Do not set your eyes on me." 159. Peter Morton-Williams,"The Egfingin Society in South-Western Yoruba Kingdoms,"in Proceedings of the West of the ThirdAnnual Conference Research (Ibatdn, Nigeria: WAISER, AfricanInstituteof Social and Economic 1956), 95. I had a similarexperience as a child growing up in Yorubaland.In some towns, the sound of bull roarers (oro) would fill the air as the procession moved from one ward to another, as if deliberately intended to awake the uninitiated, stressingthe fact of their exclusion. In some cases, a sacred image the subgroup, may be brought out in daylight but concealed. AmongIjebbi women are not allowed to see the charm of the Agemo masks, even in a concealed form, because of its use to reinforce the patriarchalsocial system. Women are therefore warned in advance to stay indoors: "Orisais treading the highways/ Lord of Life / Who dares behold him? / Who dares scan the features of the god! / A chance glance, a chance death! / Swellingson your body like ripe corn! / Glimmering shadow! / A surreptitious glance, a surreptitious death." See John Pemberton, "The King and the Chameleon: Studies Odfin Agemo," (Obafemi Awolowo of Cultural Ife: Annalsof theInstitute University,If&)2 (1988): 52. In other cases, a sacred image may be seen by the general public but not at close range. A good example is the headdress of the lya mask, which represents the Great Mother among the Ketu and Egbad6 subgroups. The mask usually comes out at night during the annual Gelede festivalthat is held in her honor. When the mask appearsin the dance arena, all lights must be extinguished. For details, see HenryJ. Drewal,"Artand the dEtudesAfricaines 17, no. 4 Perception of Women in YorubaCulture,"Cahiers
(1977): 553.

160. Similartraditionsof concealment have been observedin other parts of Africaand are exemplified by the so-calledacoustic masks,which appear only at night, using sound rather than visibility to indicate their supernatural power. For details, see Rosalind IJ. Hackett, Art and Religionin Africa(New York: Cassell, 1996), 55-56; and Edward Lifschitz, "Hearing Is Believing: Acoustic Aspects of Masking in Africa,"in WestAfricanMasks and Cultural ed. Sidney L. Kasfir(Trevuren:Mus6e Royale de l'Afrique Centrale, Systems, 1988), 221-27. 161. Since such an image is made at the beginning of an aldafin's reign, one can only wonder whether or not a similar tradition obtained in ancient Ife with which the life-size brass heads may be associated, one way or the other. 162. Sometimes, a framed photograph of the deceased may be carried in a public parade before the corpse is interred; in other cases, photographs are carried in a public procession during annual memorial celebrations. For Ritual:Performers, illustrations, see MargaretT. Drewal, Yoruba Play, Agency (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1994), fig. 3.4. For Western and influences on contemporaryYoruba portraiture,see idem, "Portraiture Arts23, no. 3 the Constructionof Realityin Yorubalandand Beyond,"African (1990): 40-49, 101. See also Stephen F. Sprague, "Yoruba Photography:How Arts12, no. 1 (1978): 52-59, 107. the Yoruba See Themselves,"African 163. See Drewal, 1990 (as in n. 162), 40-49. 164. Sprague (as in n. 162), 57. 165. Ibid. See also Houlberg (as in n. 41), 26-27; and idem, "Collectingthe Arts 9, no. 3 (1976): 18-19; SusanVogel, Anthropologyof AfricanArt,"African Art (New York:Center for AfricanArt; 20th Century ed., Africa African Explores: Munich: Prestel, 1991), 44-47; and Olu Oguibe, "Photography and the 1940 to thePresent Substance of the Image,"in In/Sight:African Photographers, (New York:Guggenheim Museum, 1996), 243-46. 166. Houlberg (as in n. 165), 18.

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