Sophie Blower
Trainee
Modern & Contemporary African Art Online / Bruce Onobrakpeya (Nigerian, born 1932) Ibiokpo (framed)
£2,000 - £3,000
Trainee
Provenance
A private collection, UK.
Literature
Safy Quel, ed., Bruce Onobrakpeya: Symbols of Ancestral Groves. Monograph of Prints and Paintings, 1978-1985 (Lagos: Ovuomaroro Gallery, 1985), no. 50, p. 75 (illustrated, p. 161 [titled 'Ibiekpo']).
The present plastograph depicts ibiokpo (or ibiekpo) which are walking or dancing sticks used in Urhobo culture. Functioning as a status symbol, the sticks typically serve as an indicator of the user's standing within a community. This is distinguished through variants including the materials employed in the construction of the ibiokpo and corresponding differences in decorative schemes.