The first piece i liked was the palace altar to King Ovonramwen. It was tradition for each king, upon assuming office, to dedicate an altar to his father; the preceding king. I thought this piece was cool because it is pretty much a dedication to ones father. The ceremonial bells, i feel, depict tradition. Bells are used to symbolize a celebration and a passing. i feel the symmetry between the three bells on the left and the three on the right symbolize the passing of the king and to celebrate the rise of a new king as he dedicates an altar to his father. The brass sculptures of the heads capped with elephant tusks are symmetrical to the standing king in the middle. Two kings on the left and two on the right. It's as if it shows that as the king rules his ancestors will always be watching him two in front, two in back, two on the right, and two on the left. The tusks possibly symbolize power and strength because the elephants who bore those tusks were massive beasts and were very powerful. Also, the tusks could also be a symbol of heaven. Ask those kings have passed, they can be considered holy and as guardians. The artwork on each tusk is also very intricate and beautiful.
The next piece i want to talk about is the display piece. Yoruba. This piece for the Yoruba king in the early 20th century. The base symbolizes the crown. and there is a figure of a royal wife with a crested hairstyle and a child on her back as the book says. This piece was well woven, the colors are very vivid. The hair on the royal wife's head is black and red and to me that comes off as a symbol of power. All of the faces seem to have a happy face on and so it doesn't quite seem like a sad piece. To me it seems as if the wife has a lot of children and that the big family is very happy. I feel like this piece of art is a symbol of prosperity and happiness. I love the way it was woven together and shaped. Very clean and very creative. Overall, it takes a lot of skill to put this together.
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