Figure Item Number: 3478/1 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Tall wooden carving depicting a priestess (part a) on a square base, with a removable headdress (part b). Woman is kneeling on an hourglass-shaped seat, with four additional legs. Seat has raised chevron, cube, scale, circular and linear decorations throughout. Two birds are attached to the back of the seat, facing forward. Overtop of the front leg is a blindfolded figure holding a bird in each hand. The priestess has a wide nose, protruding eyes, large ears and long neck. She is wearing earrings, bracelets, arm bands and necklaces. The woman’s hair has incised lines and triangles throughout, and is styled in a low ponytail. Overtop of her hair is a raised circle with a square protrusion, which fits into the base of the detachable headdress. She is wearing cross body bags on either shoulder and a skirt, with a front tie and geometric design. Tucked into the back of the skirt is a child. It is wearing a hat and has a bag(?) hanging from its shoulders. In her right hand the priestess is holding a curved container(?); in her left she has a bird, that she is eating the head of. Artist signature carved on bottom of figure’s square base. The separate headdress is dome-shaped and has a veil of interlocking rings around the bottom edge. Headdress is crowned with stack of three, small circles. Four bird figures on all sides, facing inward, have their beaks against the top circle. Rest of dome is covered in raised scale, cube and linear decorations. Base of headdress has a square cutout in the centre.
This figure is a copy of a carving made by Bisi Fakeye (1942–2017) who was a founding member of one of the oldest studio groups in Nigeria, Universal Studios of Art (U.S.A.) at National Theatre, Iganmu, in Lagos. Fakeye was internationally recognized and praised as a Yoruba innovator. Yemi Bamideli was his apprentice.
Acquired by the donor in Lagos in 1988.