Yoruba Bronze Arm Band

The Yoruba people, numbering over eighteen million, are one of the best known and most artistically prolific tribes of Sub-Saharan Africa. They are centered in southwestern Nigeria, with a significant population extending into the neighboring Republic of Benin. In addition, many people in both North and South America claim Yoruban ancestry, a result of the Atlantic slave trade. Although Yoruban peoples have long referred to themselves by specific group names based on the towns they inhabit, they are all united by the Yoruba language, a common mythology, and related artistic styles, suggesting there is a common identity linking all the people. Historically, the Yoruba lived in politically centralized city-states, the most famous of which are Ife (the mythological nexus of creation), Owo, and Oyo (from which the name Yoruba was derived by missionaries). Yoruba art is now designated by the name of the geographic locale a particular group inhabited. Some individual artists and workshops have also been identified. The Yoruba are famed for their beadwork, which was used to decorate attributes of kings, including foot rests, crowns, and cloaks. Other major art forms include textiles, figurative implements used by herbalists and diviners, small figures carved to honor deceased twins (called ibeji dolls), cast copper- alloy ritual objects, as well as decorative stools and veranda posts that would have belonged to the king. The Yoruba people also specialized in metalsmithing, which can be seen here in this exquisite armband. The armband includes many incised details purely for decorative purpose, which makes this piece more technically impressive.