A large shrine assemblage from the Kalabari-Ijo of the eastern Niger delta, Nigeria, about 130 cm high. Carved figures sit in front of a slatted screen, under a small house model.

1. Form and Construction

The ground is a rectangular lattice of thin horizontal slats in a heavy frame, set on a wooden base. Zigzag bands, some touched with blue, run across the frame, and two open rectangular frames are lashed to the screen above the figures.

Three figures sit in front of it. The central figure is the largest, with big rounded eyes and an open mouth showing teeth. Its arms and legs are separate pieces attached at the joints. A smaller figure sits on each side, with a ridged coiffure, and holds a blade or similar implement. Three loose heads stand along the top edge and a fourth rests at the foot of the central figure. On the central figure's head is a small house with a thatched, peaked roof.

2. Use and Context

According to the collection catalogue, the Kalabari-Ijo keep the objects needed to venerate spirits in shrines, and shrine panels serve the worship of ancestors through offerings and ceremonies. The catalogue adds that for the Kalabari-Ijo only the ritual significance of an object counts, and that only highly esteemed men of the community may carve a cult object.

3. Surface

The wood is weathered to a dry grey-brown, with traces of white and blue pigment on the frame and screen.

Summary

A shrine panel built from separate figures, heads and a house model on a lattice screen, made for the veneration of ancestors.