Description (Physical description)
Figurine for loom, two back to back
'Base is broken in half, both the pieces are present. The two pieces are held together using an iron nail and piece of string, ?original repair. ?Red/brown pigment covering the figurine. K. Sutton 24/5/2001'
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (Labels & Markings)
Thomas label adhered to inside of base reads: '841 | Okpe |1635 / Figurines for Loom / two back to back.'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Related Documents)
Photograph of object on reverse of the catalogue card
'See E 1910.118 and E 1913.3 records for further details about the Thomas Collection from Nigeria'. T.Cotterill,7/5/2001.
Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Analysis)
Figure for loom. Wood. It consists of two figures carved up to the waist level and joined at the heads. Human facial features are present; the nose is strangely carved. The head has a simple mouth. There is no neck, the shoulders come straight out from under the head and the arms extend from the shoulders and rest on the stomach area. Both figures sit on a wide round base 1cm thick, which is decorated with vertical lines on the side. From the base two legs emanate. The legs have two holes each bored in them. Ohioma Pogoson thinks is to allow for adjustment of the function of the object. The object appears to have been broken when collected. A native repair is visible in the form of a metal piece which has been driven from the broken of side into the larger part of the object. This has been secured with several ties, indicating the object was in use up to the point when it was collected. The backs of these figures don’t touch, leaving a space in between. Possibly this object is an okeeke, an instrument used for holding rollers on the weaving loom. It is usually situated above the head of the weaver and linked with the pedals that alternate the cotton for weaving. There are usually two sets of spun cotton for weaving. The cottons are separated alternately. This is to allow the two sets to alternate moving up and down. Each time they alternate the up and down movement, the shuttle with its cotton is passed through, thus allowing for a kind of mat weaving effect. The mechanism attached to the two sets of strings that allows for the easy to and fro rotation of the cotton sets is the okeeke. In between the prongs of the carved wood there would be a reel/roller to which the extended strings from the pedals are attached. Information provided by Dr Ohioma Pogoson, Honorary Curator of the Museum of the Institute for African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. January 2013.
Event Date 1/2013
Author: maa

Context (CMS Context)
Collected by Northcote W. Thomas in Edo State, Okpe town. The inhabitants belong to the Edo ethnic group, and also identify themselves further as Okpe people. The language they speak is also referred to as Okpe. See Blench, R. M., 1995. The Work of N.W. Thomas as Government Anthropologist in Nigeria. The Nigerian Field, 60, pp.29.
Purchased using money from Prof. A.A. Bevan’s subscription to the Museum’s Accessions Fund.
Event Date 12/2/2013
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (Amendments / updates)
Record updated as part of the Museum Affordances project 2018-2020

Event Date 12/7/2018
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Okeeke. Loom attachment carved from wood. Two human figures from waist up, with hands on belly, arranged back-to-back on top of a serrated disk. The loom attachment has two legs protruding from the base of the disc which each have two holes drilled through them. The circular disc is broken and has been historically repaired with two iron nails and string tied around the base of the figure.
Event Date 12/7/2018
Author: Katrina Dring