Standing male ancestor figure (ekpu)

Standing male ancestor figures dating from the mid- to late nineteenth century are among the oldest extant sculptures from Nigeria. Called ekpu, the figures contain the spirit of departed ancestors who were petitioned for the well-being of the community. Following the death of an elder and before his ceremonial burial (which could occur well after the actual burial), the family commissioned a sculptor to carve a figure that reflected the deceased's importance and wealth. The figures were kept in the men's meetinghouse (obio), out of the view of women and children. There animal sacrifices were made to the ekpu at the beginning of the planting season and at harvest time. In addition to being a means of communicating with the ancestral spirits, ekpu figures provided a visual record of a lineage's history.

Ekpu figures are conventionally posed frontally on short legs beneath a bulbous onion-shaped abdomen and portrayed wearing a distinctive cone-shaped hat or coiffure, a symbol of the ekpu or ancestors. They hold objects in each hand that may represent their status as elder lineage officers. Scarification marks at the center of the brows and along the sides of the faces and a narrow beard along the jawline that is styled into a plait at the chin also signify elder status. Some ekpu hold palm-wine drinking horns; the Dallas figure holds a pair of cylindrical staffs.

The size of an ekpu figure and the elaborateness of the carving reflect the importance and wealth of the ancestor who is portrayed. A childless or junior member of a family, for example, would not be represented by a figure but by a plain stick. The modest size of the Dallas figure suggests it represents a family member rather than a lineage ancestor. Women were represented by a pot.(16)

The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art, cat. 67, pp. 196-197.

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NOTES:

16. Murray, Kenneth C. “Ekpu: The Ancestor Figures of Oron, Southern Nigeria.” Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 89, no. 536 (November 1947). pp. 310-314.

Nicklin, in Gathercole, Peter, and David Lowenthal, eds. The Politics of the Past. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. pp. 291-301.