Display Vessel

This intricately sculpted and embellished vessel was designed to hold kola nuts, an essential feature of hospitality protocols among Yoruba elites. Its lid features a series of dancing female figures, recalling royal and public festival processions. The intertwined arms of the male and female figures on the base—combined with the figures varying heights—has been interpreted as a representation of the bonds of a nuclear family. Notably, all of the women wear vertical, crested coiffures, an attribute associated with brides. The combined effect of these elements suggests the vessel's commission as part of wedding festivites and the establishment of a new marital home. Though distinct in style and embellishment, this complex composition reflects awareness of celebrated master wood carver, Ọlọ́wẹ̀ of Ìsẹ, who was born in Efon-Alaaye and maintained close ties to the artists in the Adéṣínà family compound there.

In the late nineteenth century, members of the Adéṣínà family emigrated from the sacred center of Ile-Ife to the neighboring town of Efon-Alaaye, where they contributed to the dramatic expansion of the art form of beadwork. Art historian Henry John Drewal credits the Adéṣínà beading and sculpture compound with the initiation of a new seed bead style for crowns and other royal regalia, which was subsequently adopted by Yoruba rulers across Nigeria. Further promoting this aesthetic transition, members of the Adéṣínà family relocated to other towns leading to a remarkable cohesion of styles across Yorubaland. Among the Adéṣínà artists who continued to practice such refined beadwork through the late twentieth century is James Adétóyè (b. 1928), who produced works for both local and global consumption.