Shrine Figure (Ntkekpe)

Arts of Africa

Mid–20th century

Igbo
Wawa or vicinity, Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

Among the Igbo, pottery and ceramic sculpture is the domain of women. Terracotta figures can accompany shrines in a wide variety of contexts, including at compound entrances, outside of houses, in domestic gardens, and in small shrine houses. This figure and another one of a seated woman are undoubtedly the work of a single artist [see 2003.84]. The man is seated on a cylindrical stool. He wears a necklace with three large beads and holds a dagger in his hand.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Igbo
Title: Shrine Figure (Ntkekpe)
Place: Nigeria (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1925–1975
Medium: Terracotta and iron
Dimensions: 71.1 × 45.7 × 33 cm (28 × 18 × 13 in.)
Credit Line: Samuel P. Avery Endowment and Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 2003.83

Unknown owner, Nigeria, by 2002; sold to Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, Ill., 2002; sold to the Art Institute, 2003.

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