Shrine post, Urhobo; Nigeria
Wood, pigments; H. 80"

The Urhobo of Nigeria live among the rivers of the Niger delta. Their large figural art is chiefly related to depicting aggressive and courageous ancestors, lineage founders, or specific village spirits. Founding ancestors known as Eshe are often conceived as a single, central post in the lineage meeting house. In the case of the Gelbard example, the post was carved to depict Ovwha, who, according to Urhobo tradition, was one of a group of "exceptionally influential traders who attained immense success in the palm oil trade" (Foss, 1976. 20). Originally owned by the Agbarho clan in Orherhe Village, this post, described by Foss as "the largest and iconographically most complex," was created around 1890 (a field photo of the post in its original context may be seen on page XV). The figure of Ovwha holds a ritual knife in one hand and a prestige cup in the other and is seated beneath a large upper section, depicting snakes, a crocodile, and a female figure identified as the wife of Ovwha (ibid.). Within the corpus of Urhobo figural carving, this post remains one of the finest, most perfectly conceived and delicately rendered images of a powerful and semi-mythical ancestor.