Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card for A-B notes 'Two carved mahogany panels, 1' x 1', depicting ceremonial scenes, of typical Yoruba carving, by an old man (now dead), court carver of the Ologudo of Iddo, Orida Province [...]
Event Date
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (Related Documents)
Bought from Mr W. G. Wormal, ex D.C. Nigeria. See letter Braunholtz, 9/10/46.
Event Date 9/10/1946
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (Display)
Exhibited: Displayed in Maudslay hall, Drawer B under the Africa case, between 3 December 1989 and June 1997
Event Date 03/12/1989
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Display)
Exhibited: Displayed in Maudslay Hall, Drawer B, under the Africa case, July 1997 - November 2015.
Event Date 6/07/1997
Author: Lucie Carreau

Context (Display)
Exhibited: Loaned to UEA Norwich, for the 'Disembodied' exhibition, 3 June - 6 July 1997.
Event Date 3/6/1997
Author: Lucie Carreau

Description (Physical description)
Panel shows three figures; the central figure is a squatting bare-breasted woman with arched hairstyle, cylindrical neck and waistbands. She grasps the penis of the figure standing on either side, her head turned to face the figure on her right. The men grasp the female figure's arms and wear bracelets, double stranded waistbands and conical hats, topped by a raised projection.
Event Date 17/05/2016
Author: Rachel Hand

Context (Display)
Old display wire secured with metal staples to the rear of the panel, now removed.
Event Date 17/5/2016
Author: Imogen Gunn

Context (Analysis)
Added to catalogue card 1947.29 A- B in a different hand "The information about authorship came from W. G. Wormal, late DO in Ekiti and is probably wrong. The carver is almost certainly Areogun of Osi. (W.B.Fagg, based on personal investigation)".'
Event Date 17/5/2016
Author: Rachel Hand

Description (Physical description)
Carved Yoruba panel by ?Areogun of Osi, depicting a woman holding the penises of two men. The three figures wear tall headdresses, ornamented belts and several bangles on their wrists. The woman wears a necklace. Each man clasps the woman's upper arms. The scene has a decorative frame.
Event Date 11/11/2020
Author: Lily Stancliffe

Context (Production / use)
Attributed to Dada Areogun/Arowogun, a.k.a Areogun of Osi-Ilorin (c.1880- 1954). From the town of Osi Ilorin, in the Northern Ekiti region in the 1880s, he was known by his praise name Arowogun. This refered to his occupation and is a short form of Areogun-yanna-"one who gets money with the tools of Ogun [patron saint of fblacksmiths, carvers and soldiers] and spends it liberally."

Areogun was apprenticed to Bamagbose (d. 1920), one of the ancient master carvers and became the most famous of the Yoruba Osi masters. He was a prolific carver of doors, house posts, bowls and masks seen in shrines and chiefs' houses around Osi-Ilorin, in southwest Nigeria. His distinctive style incorporated motifs drawn from modern life amd this panel is typical of Areogun's distinctive style, including multiple low-relief figures arranged in an orderly, tight composition. The layering of horizontal bands to display the actions of a wide variety of people is common to his work. As with Olowe of Ise, Areogun began to sign his work relatively late, probably in the early 1920s.
Event Date 9/2/2022
Author: rachel hand