Male Equestrian Figure (Ẹlẹ́ṣin) Artist: Maku of Erin (died 1915)

late 19th–early 20th century

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

In Yoruba art, the equestrian image relates to the history of the Oyo Kingdom, which was invaded by the Nupe in about the mid-sixteenth century. In the late sixteenth century the Oyo, with the use of cavalry, reconquered the land and later expanded the kingdom. The equestrian became an image of power, human mastery over nature, and success in war and hunting. The horse rider stands in juxtaposition with another prominent theme in Yoruba art, the woman and child. Together, these themes refer to the dual basis of Yoruba society: the covert power of women to give birth and the overt physical power of men to build and protect society.

Medium

Wood, glass beads, string, and metal

Dimensions

32 × 7 1/16 × 9 13/16 in. (81.28 × 18 × 25 cm)

Credit Line

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

Accession Number

2006.51.229

Geography

Erin, Ọ̀ṣun State, Nigeria

Culture

Yorùbá

Period

19th–20th 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
Willem E. Geyskens, Diest, Belgium, by the late 1960s. Lucien Van de Velde, Antwerp, Belgium, by ca. 1970. Merton Simpson, by February 12, 1975; sold to Charles B. Benenson (1913– 2004, b.a. 1933), Greenwich, Conn., February 12, 1975; bequeathed to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2004

Bibliography
  • James Green et al., Bámigbóyè: A Master Sculptor of the Yorùbá Tradition, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2022), 50–51, 222, fig. 22
  • 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), 187, ill
  • "Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006), 222
  • Michael Kan, African Art: Masterpieces from Private Collections, exh. cat. (Katonah, NY: Katonah Museum of Art, 1993),
  • Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought (New York: Museum for African Art, 1989), 157, fig. 173
Object copyright
Copyright Undetermined
Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations)

Subject

equestrians men

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