Magazines - Tribal Art Spring 2011

By Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, African art collector and scholar.

Introduction
Owo is an important Yoruba population center in the Ondo state of southwestern Nigeria, situated at the central point of a triangle in which Ife, the holy Yoruba city, lies 126 km to the northwest and Benin, the capital of the old kingdom of the same name, 112 km to the south. According to oral tradition, Owo’s origins derive primarily from Ife, and this assertion is supported by stylistic analysis of archaeological finds. The seat of its own kingdom, this cultural region was at times subject to the sovereignty of Benin between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its power fluctuated but Owo spread its borders north to Kabba, to Akoko in the east, and as far as Okeluse to the south.
Owo appears to have been very open to immigrants, refugees, and freed slaves, as well as to prisoners from many different areas who were brought there when the olowo (king) was victorious in battle. This mixture of peoples and cultures has meant that not only did Yoruba (Ife) and Benin stylistic influences leave their mark on Owo art, but so have more distant groups such as the Ishan, Ibo, and Edo groups. For this reason, there is no singular Owo artistic style. Courtly art, however, as well as court ceremonies and the language associated with courtly paraphernalia, ritual sites, and other things of political importance clearly show the influence of both Ife and Benin styles. Similarly, the ruler’s regalia and attributes—hip masks, ceremonial swords (udamalore), bronze or ivory bracelets, etc.—are also compatible and consistent with each other.