Ibibio Medicine Bowl with Figural Handle, Based

The figure wears its headdress like a crown of folded wings.

Ibibio carvers of Northern Nigeria, West Africa, made this medicine bowl with a figural handle in wood in the 20th century. Such bowls are often associated with healing practice and the preparation or offering of remedies. A face with a pointed chin and a narrow nose sits beneath a looped, ridged headdress that curls down both sides of the head. The bowl is dark at the rim and pale at the center, where a mottled, rubbed surface suggests long use. A black metal base carries it.

About 11 inches tall. A sculpture with a shallow, silent bowl and plenty of opinions.