Male Twin Figure (Ibeji)
Unidentified Yoruba maker
mid-20th century
Wood with accoutrements of organic material
Overall: 10 5/8 × 3 5/16 × 3 1/4 in. (27 × 8.4 × 8.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of the Estates of Catherine L. and Robert A. McKennan, Class of 1925
985.20.26445
Geography
Place Made: Nigeria, Western Africa, Africa
Period
20th century
Object Name
Figure
Research Area
Africa
On view
Label
Twin figures typically come in sets, although single figures may be found. Twins are considered spiritually powerful in Yoruba culture, and thus are treated with deference. Twin figures are carved if the individual dies in infancy, as an access point for their spirit. They are decorated with extravagant hairstyles and jewelry, and the mother is expected to provide ritual care such as bathing, adorning, and feeding the figures. Often the heads of the figures will be covered with indigo dye as a symbolic gesture meant to calm the twin’s spirit. - Lydia Davis ’23, Homma Family Intern
From the 2023 exhibition Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, curated by Alexandra Thomas, Curatorial Research Associate
Course History
First Year Student Enrichment Program – Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Colleen Lannon, Summer 2023
First Year Student Enrichment Program - Cultures, Identities and Belongings, Mokhtar Bouba, Summer 2023
Philosophy 1.11, Art: True, Beautiful, Nasty, John Kulvicki, Summer 2023
Writing 2.05, Why Write, Anyway?, Erkki Mackey, Fall 2023
Writing 5.24, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023
Writing 5.25, Photographic Representations, Amanda Wetsel, Fall 2023
Exhibition History
Death and Dying: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Anthropology 55, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 11-March 26, 1995.
Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, and Northeast Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 22, 2023–May 25, 2024.
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