Oron Ancestral Figure (Ekpu)

Medium/TechniqueWood

DimensionsOverall: 120.7 cm (47 1/2 in.)

Credit LineBequest of William E. Teel to the MFA for transfer to the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Accession numberAPP.2014.226

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsSculpture

ProvenanceUntil at least 1970, Oron Museum, near Calabar, Nigeria [see note]. By 1996, René David, Zurich; 2004, sold by René David, through the Galerie Walu, Zurich, to William Teel, Marblehead, MA; 2014, bequeathed by William Teel to the MFA and transferred to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

NOTE: Published by Keith Nicklin, Ekpu: Oron Ancestor Figures from South Eastern Nigeria (London, 1999), pl. 40, cat. no. 326, photo credit National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. In Appendix III, p. 111, cat. no. 326 is listed among the Ekpu carvings that survived the depradations of the the Nigerian Civil War, or Biafran War (1967-1970), suggesting that it was still part of the Oron Museum collection in 1970. When and how it was removed from the museum is not known.

Documentation that appears to be issued by the National Commission of Museums and Monuments, which was provided at the time of the sculpture's sale in 2004, waives ownership rights by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, recent correspondence from the office of the Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, has cast doubts upon the authenticity of this documentation.