Palace door

Object Details

?l?´w?` of Ise, born ca. 1875–1938, Nigeria

Yoruba artist

Label Text

Olowe of Ise is considered by many art historians and art collectors to be the most important Yoruba artist of the 20th century. Active in the first quarter of the century, he designed and carved architectural sculptures for several palaces in the Ekiti region of Yorubaland. His work first became known in Europe when an elaborately carved and painted door and lintel ensemble he had created for the palace of the Ogoga (king) of Ikere was displayed at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in London. Considered by experts in the British Museum to be "the finest piece of West African carving that has ever reached England," the door and its lintel were acquired for that museum's collection in exchange for a British-made throne.

Olowe's innovative approach to carving the palace doors stands apart from Yoruba low relief work, which typically is flat and even. Olowe, however, carved in exceedingly high and uneven relief. The figures on this panel, the right side of a door, project in profile from the background by as much as 10 centimeters (approximately 4 inches), and the upper bodies of some figures are carved completely in the round. Instead of using static, frontal poses, Olowe turned the heads of the figures in opposition to their bodies to face the viewer. He crossed their legs to suggest walking or dancing motions.

The panel shown here commemorates an actual event. At the end of the 19th century the Arinjale (king) of Ise received the first British traveling commissioners for the Ondo Province. The left side of the door (in a private collection) depicts Major W. R. Reeve-Tucker, the first traveling commissioner, and Captain W. G. Ambrose, his successor, and their entourage of African porters, soldiers, prisoners and British missionaries.

This right panel depicts the Yoruba king and his entourage. The Arinjale, who is mounted on a horse and wears a conical crown surmounted by a bird, is seen in the second register. He is accompanied by a court messenger and a musician. Royal wives and children, guards, priests and others from the palace appear in successive registers. The decapitated female figure in the lowest register is a human sacrifice, an act committed on the rarest occasions to ensure the survival of the community. Originally three vultures pecked at the female's eyes, abdomen and feet; now only the feet of the birds remain. The faces carved on two columns along the length of the door may represent war captives or royal ancestors.

Olowe carved the palace door from iroko, an iron-hard wood highly valued in his time and still used in modern building construction and furniture making. No photograph of Olowe has been located, but his oriki, or chanted attributes, claims that he was handsome and so strong that he could carve iroko wood "as though it were as soft as a calabash."

Description

Wood palace door carved in very high relief, with six registers, top to bottom: 1) two women with infants on their backs, female attendant; 2) male figure on horseback (king called "Arinjale") followed by two male figures, the second playing a whistle; 3) four dancing girls holding their breasts; 4) four males carrying powderkegs on their heads (one broken off); 5) four male soldiers each holding a gun (one broken off); 6) female figure lying prone, head severed and legs spread apart, remains of three pairs of feet of birds (vultures). Along the proper right side of the door are 13 paired male heads, many with beards.

Provenance

Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Kuhn, Los Angeles, ca. 1972 to 1988

Exhibition History

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing

General exhibition, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., (deinstalled May 25, 2016)

Treasures, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 17, 2004-August 15, 2005

Olowe of Ise: A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., March 15-September 7, 1998

Published References

Eisenhofer, Stefan. 2010. African Art. Cologne: Taschen, pp. 44-45 (note wrong date, not 1925).

National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 66-67, no. 41.

Ogbechie, Sylvester Okwunodu. 2012. Making History: African Collectors and the Canon of African Art. Milan: 5 Continents Editions, pp. 135, 137, no. 105.

Patton, Sharon F. 2004. Treasures: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. Folio.

Walker, Roslyn Adele. 1998. Olowe of Ise: A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 42-45, no. 4.

Walker, Roslyn Adele. 1998. Olowe of Ise: A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings. Exhibition brochure. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, no. 6.

Content Statement

As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.

Image Requests

High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/

Credit Line

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Kuhn

ca. 1904-1910

Object number

88-13-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Architectural Element

Medium

Wood, traces of pigment

Dimensions

H x W x D: 207 x 88 x 15.9 cm (81 1/2 x 34 5/8 x 6 1/4 in.)

Geography

Ise, Ekiti region, Nigeria

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

Exhibition

Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts

On View

NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)

Object Name

ilekun aafin

National Museum of African Art

Topic

Commemorative

Leadership

equestrian

mother and child

musical instrument

weapon

horse

male

female

Record ID

nmafa_88-13-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7b1709d5d-ddec-45e8-a410-277449fed8f4