Yoruba cupbearer, Nigeria. Hard wood with a glossy brown patina, black pigments, traces of lye blue, metal. (Accidents). Height : 33 cm Yoruba cup bearer sitting on a short seat in a hieratic attitude. From the broad shoulders flow the slender, bent arms, the wrists adorned with rings. Between the digitate hands, the deep cup is decorated with fine chevrons. The high sculpted breasts are described as an ornament to the bust, which is otherwise treated in a sober volume. The neat face is marked by four deep scarifications on the cheeks, the number of which attests to the effigy's high rank. The high-shelled headdress is streaked with fine strands, with lye blue still showing in some of the gaps. The whole is marked by a shiny patina with a deep and seductive sheen. The theme of the cup bearer is one of the major subjects of Yoruba art, and illustrates the presentation of offerings by a female orator to one of the gods of the pantheon or orisha.