Skip to main content
Collections Menu
SAM'S collection
Ibeji, Children of Heaven
Ibeji, Children of Heaven

Ibeji, Children of Heaven

Label TextTwins inspire both fear and wonder in Yorubaland, where the rate of twin births is among the highest in the world. Twins are considered special children who can bring riches to their parents or misfortune to those who do not honor them. If a twin dies, a sculpture is carved to remember them in the prime of life-forward-facing, confident, and dignified.
Object number81.17.611.1
Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., p. 67, reproduced fig. A-1 (as "ibeji"). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 26, 28-29, reproduced pl. 6 (as Commemorative twin figure (awon ere ibeji)).
Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions9 5/8 x 3 3/8 x 3 9/16 in. (24.5 x 8.5 x 9 cm)
MediumWood, pigment, beads, and nails
Commemorative Twin Figure (Awon Ere Ibeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.611.2
Figure (Ere Ibeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.608
Figure (Ere Ibeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.609
Commemorative twin figure (Awon Ere Ibeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.610.1
Commemorative twin figure (Awon Ere Ibeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.610.2
Figure (Ere Ebeji)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.607
Mask
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.513
Headdress (Ekine Society)
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.530
Photo: Paul Macapia
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.532
Figure for Esu
Nigerian
Object number: 81.17.597
Mask
Liberian
late 19th-early 20th century
Object number: 81.17.192
Drum
Akan
Object number: 81.17.330