This is a pair of Male and female Yoruba Ere Ibeji Adorned Twin Dolls with Facial Scarification and a Stylized Coiffure that comes from the Yoruba Tribal People of Nigeria
Among the Yoruba, who have the highest rate of twins in the world, the arrival of twins is seen as both a blessing and an omen because of the high mortality rate. If a twin dies, an image dedicated to Ibeji, the deity of twins, is carved to serve as the earthly abode for the spirit of the deceased
 
Excellent condition
Some 'raw' pithing of wood base only on the back and bottom, which is controlled and expected with items of this nature


 
Provenance
Estate of Diplomat/Liberia/1970
SOLD AS PAIR
 
References
Bacquart, J. B.,
The Tribal Arts of Africa, Thames & Hudson, 1998; Fagg, W. & Pemberton, J. III., Yoruba: Sculpture of West Africa, Collins, 1982; and Rowland, A., Drewal, H. J. & Pemberton, J. III., Yoruba: Art and Aesthetics, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, 1991.