Thorn Carving

Item number 3326/34 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Thorn carving depicting a person worshipping a large carved face with a dish and bowl nearby. The person is shown on their knees, bowing down with hands held in prayer. Figure adhered to a rectangular pressed board base with a stamp on the bottom: "Isaac [illegible] Ibadan".

History Of Use

Thorn carvings are miniatures depicting a variety of scenes from Nigerian life. The carvings first began to be made circa 1930. The thorns vary in size; they can be as large as 12.7 cm long and 9.6 cm wide. The thorn wood is comparatively soft and easy to carve; they are traditionally carved by men.

Narrative

Most of the Nigerian objects in the Lieber collection were assumed to have been collected while Jack Lieber was living in Nigeria, 1965-1970. However one of the thorn carvings was made after 1971, so the dates are uncertain.

Cultural Context

craft; tourist art

Specific Techniques

The light yellow-brown thorn and the dark brown thorn come from the ata tree; the light red-brown thorn comes from egun trees. The parts are glued together with viscous paste made that was made from rice cooked with water.