TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities "Altering The Way You View The World Of Art" |
Type of Object:
Ethnic Group:
Reference:
- Ewe Dolls
- This is a lovely pair of twins from the Ewe Tribe. They have
attractive form, with exaggerated childlike proportions, and
their patinas are soft and tactile.
The Ewe people of Togo and Benin and the Yoruba of
Nigeria have a comparable twin-centered belief system.
Each carve twin figures in reverence to a deceased twin
and care for it as if it were alive.
Ewe twin dolls do not visually resemble Yoruban ones. Ewe
figures are blocky little figures of unstained wood, animated
by painted or blackened features rather than carefully
carved ones.
The Ewe dolls used for children's play, for fertility, and for
prophylaxis are indistinguishable from those
commemorating twins, the difference stemming from
enacted purpose rather than from appearance.
Ethnic Group:
- Ewe Society
- Togo
Benin
- Wood
Reference:
