figure (art)

Carving of the Prince of Wales. 'Prince of Wales' carved round stand.
Label: Brown parcel label with printed text 'London County Council, African Wooden Figure 28/4/56, Mr. French.' Hand-written text 'Carved by Thomas Ona of Ijelo-Ode, a Yoruba carver who developed this style for sale to Europeans.'

This is a genre figure by the well known Ijebu sculptor Thomas Ona Odulate (ca. 1900-52). Ona was born in Ijebu but later moved to Lagos where he made a successful career for himself carving genre figures for expatriate Europeans that documented the life of colonial Nigeria. This figure would probably have been made in response to the visit of the Prince of Wales to Nigeria in 1925.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
28.4.56/1
Date
20th century; circa 1925
PLACE
CULTURE
Yoruba; Ijebu
MAKER
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 250 x 85 x 90 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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