Twin Figure (Ère Ìbejì)
Unknown Artist
late 1800s–early 1900s
Medium
Wood, copper alloy, iron alloy, lead, glass beads, cowrie shells, twine, and pigment
Dimensions
25.6 × 18.8 × 5.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Kim Sherwin
Accession Number
2016.9
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Such a figure is carved when a twin dies in infancy and serves as a memorial to the surviving sibling. These twin figures are always carved to look like adult individuals with idealized physical features. Various body adornments suggest the care parents devote to their children, while the erosion of facial features indicates the symbolic washing and feeding of the figure as a means to connect the soul of the deceased to that of the living twin.