Minneapolis Institute of Art

Shrine Figure

Ijo artist

Date

20th century

Medium

Wood

Culture

Ijo

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

While some African cultures send their deceased into the afterlife with worldly possessions, or build tombs close to home to maintain connections, other cultures dedicate shrines to their loved ones that support both the living and the dead. The Ijo people of Nigeria have elaborate funeral practices that include carving shrine figures like the one on view here. The figure wears a European hat, a locally recognized sign of power and prestige. It signifies that the deceased was someone of a higher class, probably a wealthy trader who had access to, and control over, trade with Europeans.

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