A Rare Yoruba Figural Boat by Thomas Ona Odulate - Nigeria
ca 1940
Wood, pigment
Length: 35.6cm (14in)
PROVENANCE: Christie's, London, February 2, 2000
Private Collection, Boston, Massachusettes
Yale University Guy Van Rijn Archives (AHDRC) #0216867-001
*Documentation on file and can accompany the artwork for historical conservation purposes
Description: A Thomas Ona figural boat group depicting a British colonial soldier on tour, the European at the back holding a staff and four rowers behind him; remains of polychromy.
Provenance: The subject figural boat displays traditional Yoruba artistry and created by master carver Thomas Ona Odulate (ca.1900-1952) of Ijebu Ode, Nigeria. The sculpture was sold at Christie's London in 2000, and was later acquired by a private collector from Boston, Massachusetts.
Curatorial Remarks: Minor losses and surface wear commensurate with age.
Working from the turn of the century into the fifties, Ona’s satirical wood sculptures customarily portray European colonials in their formal attire. Diverging from conventional Yoruba artistry, his unusual technique was known to integrate a precise carving style with subtle irony resulting in extraordinary sculptures that became exceedingly popular among the occupying British. The Yoruba artist had previously worked in Ijebu Ode, until moving to Lagos in the 1940s.
Cf. Zemanek, David. "Yoruba Carvers – Past and Present." Tribal Art Collector, May 18, 2004, "Early Tourist Arts of the Yoruba." Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 2017, Claessens, Bruno. "Thomas Ona, a Short Biography of a Yoruba Carver (ca. 1900–52)." Duende Art Projects, January 3, 2014, and Christie's, Peter Petrou, Tales of the Unexpected, Sale 17484, January 30, 2019, London, Lot 63 (SOLD 3,000 GBP) for comparable examples.
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