Yoruba Wood House Post

She has held her pose for some time, and her hair still gets the last word.

This house post is carved wood, made by the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, West Africa. Carved veranda posts have long stood in Yoruba palaces and shrines, and seated or kneeling women with children are among their familiar subjects. Here a seated woman rises from a broad stool, with heavy-lidded eyes, a long neck and a tall, ridged crest of hair. Above it, the post flares into a flat, paddle-like blade. Small figures cling at her sides, one with chipped edges showing paler wood. Traces of dark color remain.

Nobody would mistake her for mere structure.