Janus Plaque

18th–19th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

This plaque representing a human face was originally affixed to a wooden headdress with a second face on the back, creating a Janus, or double-headed, image. The inverted crescents on the forehead connect it to the Òsugbó association and symbolize earthworms, which are venerated by the Òsugbó as the earth’s most essential creatures.

Medium

Brass

Dimensions

12 13/16 × 10 1/16 in. (32.5 × 25.5 cm)

Credit Line

Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Collection

Accession Number

2006.51.189

Geography

Guinea Coast, Nigeria

Culture

Ìjèbú Yorùbá

Period

18th–19th century

Classification

Sculpture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
G.I. Jones, Nigeria. Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York. February 11, 1977; Charles B. Benenson Collection, Greenwich, Conn, 1977–2004; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Frederick John Lamp, Amanda Maples, and Laura M. Smalligan, Accumulating Histories: African Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2012), 167, ill
  • Barkley L. Hendricks, "Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006," in "Photography at Yale," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006), 222
  • Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (New York: Museum for African Art, 1989), fig. 43
  • Wilson P. Foss, Nigerian Splendor: A Checklist of the Exhibition, exh. cat. (Hanover, N.H.: Dartmouth College, 1980), no. 54, ill
  • Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Fine African, Oceanic, and Pre-Columbian Art, sale cat. (February 11, 1977), lot 165, ill
  • Dennis Duerden, African Art: An Introduction (London: Hamyln, 1974), 34, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

View IIIF manifest

The International Image Interoperability Framework, or IIIF, is an open standard for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. Visit iiif.io to learn more

Linked Art

API response for this object

Linked Art is a Community working together to create a shared Model based on Linked Open Data to describe Art.