Mumuye
Federal Republic of NigeriaStanding Figure, Early 20th century
On view
Wood
Dimensions22 × 7 in. (55.9 × 17.8 cm)
Museum purchase with funds from the Collection Endowment, 2021.6
Mumuye figure sculptures such as this one are highly abstracted, stylized geometric forms and many modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore have looked to the Mumuye for figural inspiration. This sculpture likely depicts a female subject due to the enlarged ears for piercing, which is done only by women in the culture. The exact meaning of this work is unknown, but Mumuye wooden images are often associated with elders, rainmakers, diviners, and other religious leaders. Their abstract sculpture perhaps looks this way to suggest both human and supernatural authority.
The Mumuye peoples of Nigeria were pushed into their current locale during the Fulani holy wars, which extended from the 17th century into the early 19th century. Along with their neighbors, they fled southwards into the hills of eastern Nigeria where they divided into small communities that remain relatively isolated from one another.
