Igbo
Wawa or vicinity, Nigeria
Coastal West Africa
Female Figure (Ntkekpe)
INV-1809
Igbo
Wawa or vicinity, Nigeria
Coastal West AfricaMid–20th century
Female Figure (Ntkekpe)
Igbo Wawa or vicinity, Nigeria Coastal West Africa →igboArts of Africaafrican ArtCoastal West Africasculpturearts of Africa
Date
Mid–20th century
Medium
Terracotta and iron
Dimensions
76.2 × 35.6 × 49.6 cm (30 × 14 × 19 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Samuel P. Avery Endowment and Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson
Among the Igbo, women are typically responsible for making pottery and other ceramic sculpture. Terracotta figures like this example would have been part of a shrine or placed in a domestic garden or at the entrance of a compound. The figure is seated on a traditional three-tiered Igbo stool and wears anklets, bracelets, and thick coils of waist beads, all indicators of her high status and wealth.
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