Colonial figurine: polo player
Made by Thomas Ona Odulate, 1943.
Nigeria, Yoruba
Collected by William R. Bascom, 1940s.
Loan from the estate of Berta Bascom (B-7)
Although representations of foreigners in African art go back centuries, the so-called colonial figures, which depict Westerners and Africans in European dress, became popular only in the late 19th century. One of the originators of this genre among the Yoruba was Thomas Ona Odulate, who moved in the 1940s to the colonial capital of Lagos, where he found a ready market for his work. The carver told Bascom that these were not meant to be satirical, just depictions of the emblems of hierarchy and rank.
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