Object Name: Ibeji with beaded gown
Place of Origin: Nigeria
Cultural Group: Yoruba peoples
Materials Used: Wood, glass beads, sring, pigment, camwood powder
Date: 1967
Dimensions: H: 28 cm, W:8.5 cm, D:9.5 cm (H: 11.0 in, 3.3 in, D: 3.7 in)
Credit line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of George G. Frelinghuysen. X67.2151a,b

The red and white kele beads of Sango (as well as the huge, golden, double celt-triangles on the gown) identify the deity’s intercession in the birth (and departure) of this remembered child. Other beads also embellish this memorial.

Source: Drewal, H., Mason, J. (1998). “Beads, Body, and Soul – Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe”, Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. page 251