IKEGOBO IGHOLE AND OMORHAN IMAGES
By
Prof. Carol Ann Lorenz
Columbia University, New York
City
Introduction
Ancestral
altars are sometimes repositories for small religious sculptures
whose primary function is other than ancestral veneration. These
include ikegobọ
images which honor the spirit of the hands, ighole
figures which enhance communication between a diviner and the
supernatural world, and ọmọrhan
which are dolls but may become votive objects in times of crisis.
Although each of these sculpture types is concerned with a
distinctive Esan religious expression cults of the hand,
medicine/divination, and fertility respectively – they are also
related in important but sometimes tangential ways to the
ancestors.
Ikegobọ
Cult of the Hand Images
As
in Benin, three important personal spirits are acknowledged in Esan,
those associated with the hand (obọ).
and head (uhọnmhọn),
and one's personal guardian or destiny (ẹhi).
The religious traditions of Benin and Esan, however, emphasize the
three spirits differently. In Benin, the head and ẹhi
spirits were the focus of cults observed by "the great majority
of adults, (while) the cult of the Hand was less universal"
(Bradbury 1961: 134). The head, credited with faculties which allow a
man to plan for his welfare and that of his family, was singled out
for particular veneration. Benin chiefs sometimes honored their heads
with carved sculptures which are identical in appearance to ancestral
memorials (Ben-Amos 1980: Fig. 62), and the head of the Oba was the
"object of worship at the main event of the state ritual year"
(Bradbury 1961: 134). In contrast, while the Esan people acknowledge
the head and ẹhi
spirits in prayer, personal names, and proverbs, service to these
entities is not much in evidence. The hand, however, is the focus of
a cult which is widespread and one of the major elements of Esan
religion. The term "cult" is used in accordance with prior
scholarship, but with caution because the veneration of the hand is
an individual or family observance, rather than a communal religious
expression which is the definition of cult used elsewhere in this
work. Nevertheless, the use of "cult" to refer to
individual worship falls within the range of meanings applied to this
term (Berger 1969; Onaiyekan 1983; Monk et 1994).
The
Cult of the Hand in Southern Nigeria
Versions
of the cult of the hand have been documented among a number of
southern Nigerian cultures in addition to Benin and Esan; these
include the Igbo, Igala, Isoko, Urhobo, and Ijo peoples. Each culture
has devised, as a focus for devotion to the hands, a sculptural
object that embodies the locally preferred principles and values of
the cult. Although much has been published on the cult of the hand
both in general (Vogel 1974) and in specific areas, it will be useful
to recapitulate this material briefly as a basis for comparison with
Esan.
It has often been suggested (e.g., Odita 1973;
Boston ·1977: 2) that the Igbo people are the likely originators of
the cult of the hand, which they call ikenga
or ikega.
Widespread and highly developed, with numerous and varied images
(Cole and Aniakor 1984: 24), the Igbo ikenga
is a male cult that stresses the right hand and represents the force
of a man's individual strength, skill, industry, status and wealth.
So closely is the
ikenga
figure associated with its owner, that upon his death it must be
discarded, destroyed or buried with him (Jeffreys 1954: 31- 33).
A
pair of horns, connoting masculine strength and aggression, is the
most essential element in the carved image (Aniakor 1973: 11). In the
simplest Igbo ikenga
(Cole and Aniakor 1984: Fig. 38), horns are superimposed upon a base
in the form of a stool, which represents the wealth and status a man
can attain through the success of his hands (Vogel 1974: 3). Ikenga
sculptures often increase in size and degree of elaboration according
to the achieved status of the owner. Figural examples commonly depict
a horned warrior seated on a stool; he carries weapons and severed
heads, or else symbols of elevated rank such as staffs of office,
tusks, horns and various ornaments (Cole and Aniakor 1984: Figs.
45-47, 51-53).
On the periphery of the cult of the hand
tradition, outside Igboland, there are many variations in the
practice of the cult and the appearance of its associated figures.
The Igala version, called okega
or okinga,
a cognate with the Igbo ikenga,
can be found in two very limited geographical areas, in the
southwestern Ibaji district and in and around Idah (Boston 1977: 87),
both of which have experienced extensive contact with Igbo peoples.
Some okega
images
are reminiscent of Igbo
ikenga
carvings, but carvers in Idah developed an okega
form with two or more tiers and multiple figures of men and women
(Boston 1977: 87, 89). These large images belong to hereditary
lineage leaders and stress the "achievement of a whole clan and
of all its members, both men and women" (Boston 1977: 94), in
contrast to the Igbo emphasis on individual masculine success and
competition.
In Benin, the cult of the hand is called
ikegobọ,
or alternatively ikengobọ
or ikega.
The term
ikega
seems to be drawn directly from the Igbo ikega
or ikenga,
while
ikegobọ
combines ikega with the Edo word meaning "hand," ~.1
Ikegob9 images are generally reserved for those with wealth and rank
or particular skills (Bradbury 1961: 134). ikegobọ
images are made in different materials according to the owner's
position in society. Large and elaborate brass examples are exclusive
to the Oba and a few others, while terracotta ikegobọ
are owned by the brasscasters (Bradbury. 1961: 135). Large wooden
ikegobọ
with relief figures are the prerogatives of chiefs, while small,
mostly nonfigurative, versions belong to craftsmen and others
(Bradbury 1961: 135-136). Deities might also have ikegobọ
images among their shrine furniture (Bradbury 1961: 136).
Benin
tradition states that kings and chiefs have venerated the spirit of
their hands at least since the reign of Oba Ewuare in the fifteenth
century (Egharevba 1946: 89). Carolyn Dean (1983: 33) suggests that
the expansion of the empire during this period "exposed Benin to
cults of neighboring groups," among which the cult of the hand
would have had particular appeal to Ewuare as a symbol of his
military achievement. During the eighteenth century, Oba 328 Akenzua
I, who reunified a disintegrating Benin by force of arms, elevated
the ikegobọ
"to an instrument of statecraft" (Dean 1983:
36).
______________________
Bradbury (1961: 138, n.9) offers an etymology for the word ikega derived from Edo linguistic roots connoting circularity, and suggests that ikegobọ would refer to "'something that goes round the arm,'" probably a cowrie circlet of the type that surrounds most ikegobọ figures. Bradbury does not insist upon an Edo origin for the term ikega, however, and admits that "a more satisfactory etymology" can be derived from the Igbo language. He cites Jeffreys (1954: 30) who states that ikenga comes from the words ike ("strength") and nga ("to succeed"). Odita (1973: 79) interprets ikenga to mean "the strength with which I advance," while Onwuejeogwu (1973: 93-4) offers the similar "my strength must go ahead."
Military
themes, also observed in the Igbo ikenga,
are well developed in elaborate Benin cult of the hand sculptures,
the best known of which is the eighteenth century brass ikegobọ
of the Ezomo war chief (Bradbury 1961). Images of aggression include
warriors fully armed for battle, weapons, beheaded corpses, severed
heads, and predatory animals. There is also, however, an emphasis on
status and wealth, including figures swathed in abundant lengths of
cloth, with elaborate ornaments and attendants arranged
hierarchically. Indeed, the basic element of the Benin ikegobọ
is a representation of a "box-stool" (Vogel 1974: 8), which
serves as both a seat and treasure container and thus refers to
status and wealth. The Benin ikegobọ
lacks carved horns and instead often has a post, or a hole for an
inserted stick, designed to support an actual tusk or horn.
The
emphasis on the stool element distinguishes the Benin ikegobọ
from Igbo ikenga figures which focus on the horns. The Benin cult of
the hand also differs from the Igbo model because Benin ikegobọ
are intended for the praise of both hands rather than privileging the
right hand, and a high-ranking or wealthy Benin woman might have an
ikegobọ
of
her own (Bradbury 1961: 133-4), while the Igbo cult is almost
exclusively male.
________________________
According to Paula Ben-Amos (pers.comm. cited in Dean 1983: 33), the cylindrical domestic stool okhuere may be the source of the stool form in Benin ikegobọ images.
The
Southern Edo version of the cult of the hand seems to share features
of both Igbo and Benin traditions. The Urhobo (Vogel 1974: 11) and
Isoko peoples (Peek 1981: 143; 1986: 47) divide the twin values of
the cult – status and wealth on one side, strength and aggression
on the other into two separate cults. The cult of the right hand,
called obọ
or "hand, " stresses good fortune and employs a small,
simple stool-like image that occasionally has a horn on top (Vogel
1974: 11). A second cult, called
iviri
(ivwri,
iphri),
also known among the neighboring Western Ijo where it is called efiri
or
ejiri,
is particularly concerned with the enhancement or control of
aggression. The ivri/efiri
objects
depict a massive beast with a huge belly, gaping mouth, and prominent
teeth. A human figure representing the owner or his "spirit
double" {Peek 1981: 42) sits or stands above this creature,
arrayed in warrior attributes, including feathered headdresses,
weapons, and severed heads, or signs of status such as top hats. The
principal figure is often flanked by smaller attendant figures; this
hierarchic arrangement may reflect contact with Benin (Foss 1975:
141). These images are normally restricted to male ownership, and
their size and elaboration depends upon the "power, wealth, and
prestige of the owner and his ability to control the image once made"
(Foss 1975: 134-5). The Ijo people also have objects known as amabra
("right arm") or
ikenga,
consisting of a stool with a low-relief face on top, or a two-horned
figure reminiscent of an Igbo ikenga
(Horton, cited in Bradbury 1961: 138, n. 14). The distribution of
efiri
and
amabra
images appear to be limited in Ijoland, confined to areas most in
contact with Igbo and Southern Edo cultures (cf. Horton 1965: cap.
Pl. 66; Foss 1975: 140).
The
Esan ikegobọ
The
Esan cult of the hand is called ikegobọ
or ikega
as
in Benin, 3 or simply obọ
(“hand”) as among the Southern Edo. The cult of the hand occurs
in almost every area of Esan, although it appears to be moribund in
the most northerly kingdoms, possibly owing to the encroachments of
Islam. The Ishan ikegobọ
is one of several religious practices designed to protect a man and
his family, secure his fortune, ward off evil and bring good luck.
The Ishan
ikegobọ
praises both hands (e.g., James Ikekhua, Uromi, 2 August 1980; H.H.
R. Ubiaja Edobor, Qnojie of Ekpon, 30 November 1980), since both are
active in work, upon which one's welfare
depends.__________________________
3,
Variant terms such as ikegobọ
are also known.
The
Esan ikegobọ
stresses success, achievement, good luck, and the accumulation of
wealth. One sacrifices to the hands in order to thank them for past
successes and petition them for future benefits. But unlike Benin and
Igbo forms of the cult, there is no concern with aggression or
warfare in Esan, nor is there a complementary cult, comparable to
ivri
and
efiri
of the Southern Edo and Ijo, that focuses on aggression or protection
from violence. Those concepts are simply absent from the Esan ikegobọ
cult as it is practiced today, and there is no hint that it ever had
such connotations. ikegobọ
images include no warrior figures, decapitated victims, weaponry or
devouring animals. In fact, the few figural Ishan
ikegobọ
which
depict hieratic groups similar to those on
ivri
or efiri
images,
situate those figures on a cylindrical, stool-like base rather than
on the back of a threatening beast (Fig. 182).
Also absent
in the Esan
ikegobọ
tradition are references to political rank or elevated social status,
which are emphasized in Igbo, Benin, and Igala examples, and are also
present to a certain degree among the Southern Edos and Ijos. The
Esan cult of the hand is concerned, rather, with seniority. Usually
only mature, or even elderly, individuals may establish a shrine to
their hands (e.g., Chief Odebhu1u, Uwangue of Udo, 6 December 1980;
H.H. Ekpehin, Onojie of Onogholo, 8 December 1980). Although
ownership of many Esan art forms is the prerogative of high-ranking
individuals, the ikegobọ
cult and its sculptures represent one aspect of the culture that is
particularly non-elitist. Anyone of sufficient age may have an
ikegobọ
carved, regardless of social position or profession.
Moreover,
all Esan ikegobọ
are carved in wood, obviating distinctions based upon the control of
exclusive materials. Indeed, the ikegobo of a king is usually not
larger or more elaborate than, or otherwise distinguishable from,
those of his subjects. In Ujiogba, for example, of five ikegobọ
figures shown to me by a group of men, that of the Ọnojie
was the smallest.4 Figural ikegobọ
lack the regalia and ornaments that symbolize status elsewhere in
Esan art and in other cult of the hand areas. Although rank may be
implied in the small number of Esan ikegobọ
figures which are arranged hierarchically, the smaller figures are
often so abstract that they are unrecognizable as human beings (Figs.
183, 184), thus losing their significance as indicators of social or
political standing.
Differences between poor and wealthy
owners of Esan ikegobọ
are more likely to be apparent in the quantity and quality of the
sacrifices made to the hands. A poor man must content himself with
small offerings of kolanut or everyday food items, whereas a rich man
might praise his hands by slaughtering a cock or a goat. This is not,
however, religious behavior exclusive to the veneration of the hands,
but rather a fulfilment of generalized expectations of generosity
from those who can afford it.
_____________________________
4.
The Southern Edo peoples also tend to minimize obọ
sculptures, including those of important men, but this is ascribed to
the relative unimportance of the obọ
cult
in comparison to ivri
(Vogel
1974: 11).
All
Esan practitioners of the
ikegobọ
cult observe an annual festival to venerate the hands, as do other
groups with the cult (cf. Talbot 1926, vol.2; Bradbury 1961: 134;
Boston 1977: 76). Variously called iluobọ
("festival
of the hand"), ukpe
(“year, " a generic term for any annual ceremony) or simply
ikegobọ,
the Ishan yearly service often follows planting time. Indeed, for
most Esan people, the primary function of the ikegobọ
is to insure success in farming, a mundane but essential occupation.
Apart from this annual rite, the frequency of attention to the
ikegobọ
varies according to individual preference. Some report making daily
offerings (e.g., James Ikekhua, Uromi, 2 August 1980), others
sacrifice when they feel they have achieved something noteworthy
(e.g., Inegbenebor, Ugbegun, 16 September 1980), while still others
do so only upon the advice of a diviner (Chief Ijie, Uromi, 30 July
1980). A type of divination kit called ewawa
often includes an object which represents the hands and may call for
sacrifice to them.
Although the ownership of an
ikegobọ
image is an individual matter, practice of the cult is often a family
affair. The senior man maintains his family's
ikegobọ
together with the paternal ancestral shrine. The shrine might contain
not only the householder's
ikegobọ,
but those of his forefathers, because Esan cult of the hand images
are usually not destroyed upon the death of the owner but are
preserved as relics of the deceased. The linkage of ancestral
observances with the cult of the hands insures that the latter
involves the entire lineage, not just an individual. Moreover,
concern for the continuation of the lineage is expressed in the
requirement that a man be married with at least one child before he
establishes a shrine to his hands; in other words, he must
demonstrate his ability to contribute descendants to the lineage. In
addition, a man prays for success and prosperity for all his family
including his wives and children, and sometimes also junior siblings
and their families. Wives and children may be present and even
participate in the sacrifice and prayers.
In some cases,
a woman may make her own sacrifice to the hands using her husband's
ikegobọ
as a focus of her devotion. Although in some Ishan communities’
ownership of carved figures is restricted to men (e.g., Chief Iyama,
Uromi, 11 August 1980; H.H. Ekpehin, Onojie of Onogholo, 8 December
1980), in many areas women are equally entitled to own ikegobọ
and sacrifice to their hands. The principal criterion for ownership
by women is advanced age, as in the case of men (Chief Odebhulu,
Uwangue of Udo, 6 December 1980). Distinctions are often made,
however, in the form of the images for men and
women.
_____________________
5.
Boston (1977: 89) suggests that "complementarity between
ancestral worship" and the cult of the hand exists among the
Igala and Igbo peoples. This connection was earlier observed by
Talbot (1926, vol. II: 142-143) among various Igbo groups.
Esan
ikegobọ Images
Esan
ikegobọ
may take several different forms, some of them sculptural and others
resembling ordinary domestic utensils. All are relatively small,
ranging from about three to fifteen inches in height, and simply
carved and decorated. The most common type is shaped like a small
hand pestle (ulumobọ),
which resembles a miniature stool (Fig. 185). It thus symbolizes
status and wealth as well as the labor of the hands. The hand pestle
is a tool grasped in both hands, which is used by men to grind
tobacco or medicinal herbs, and by women to prepare condiments for
the family meal. Many ikegobọ
in pestle form are entirely plain, while others have simple incised
lines or geometric designs. Usually a string of cowrie shells
(ikpigho
or ighoesan),
suggestive of wealth and good fortune, is tied around the middle.
A
second type of ikegobọ,
which is also widely distributed in Esan, combines the pestle/stool
image with a pair of upward projecting horns (Fig. 186), as in the
simplest Igbo ikengas.
This type is always limited to ownership by men. It is tempting to
deduce from this fact that, as in Igboland, the horns are associated
with masculine aggression; however, in Ishan these projections are
often identified as two hands (e.g., Chief Uzama, Igueben, 11
September 1980) despite the hom-like shape and absence of fingers.
A
third form of ikegobọ
is a shallow wooden tray of a type commonly used to wash the hands
(ukpabọ)
or a slightly deeper mortar (uro)
normally used for grinding with the hand pestle (Fig. 187). Either
unadorned or incised with simple geometric patterns, the ukpabọ
or uro
contains offerings of cowries, chalk and kolanuts, and may be
combined with other kinds of ikegobọ
to form a shrine ensemble. For example, a pestle-type image might be
set on the tray, and strings of cowries placed in and around them. In
some locations, circlets of cowries alone may be used as shrines to
the hand by men, including those of high rank (e.g., Chief J.O.
Ojabhole, Uzea, 15 October 1980), while elsewhere strings of cowries
are the typical
ukpabọ
form for women. In Ugbegun, for example, women use strings of cowries
or an undecorated ukpabọ
dish to serve their hands, while men own carved
ikegobọ
(H.H. Azikagbon, Onojie of Ugbegun et al., 19 September 1980).
Distinctions between men's and women's ikegobọ
are also in force in Ekpon, where women use the hand pestle type,
while men have horned forms (Fig. 188}.
Figural ikegobọ
are rare in Esan and appear to be exclusive to men. In one figural
type, caryatid figures support a platform upon which three
half-figures are arranged hierarchically in a nearly two-dimensional
plane (Fig. 183). More commonly, hieratic figures appear at the top
of a small stool-like or cylindrical base (Fig. 182}. In front of the
figures, a hole or depression holds sacrificial offerings. Because
these images are half figures which illustrate the upper torso only,
they do not include genitals and there is no overt masculinity in
their appearance. Scant attention is paid to facial features or other
anatomical details, while clothing, ornamentation and regalia are
absent. In fact, many of the flanking figures are reduced to
featureless posts upon which the central figure rests his arms (Figs.
182, 184).
An exceptional ikegobọ
from Ewohimi in southern Esan, dedicated to the deity Osun (Bradbury
B11.2/32), consists of a single male figure with displayed genitals,
standing atop a horns-on-stool image (Fig. 189}. He has decorative
patterns incised on the body, wears a pendant necklace, and grasps
two swords of office in highly stylized hands. His feather headdress
is unusual in Esan, but common among Igbo peoples. The combination of
a figure with a hom-on-stool form is reminiscent of ikenga
figures (Fig. 162} among the neighboring Ika Igbos. An Ika or
borderland Ishan/Ika origin is also probable for a complex sculpture
which the British Museum (1954.AF23.1771) has labelled "Esan?"
(Figs. 190, 191). A large naked male figure holds a staff and a long
knife as he sits upon a stool, back to back with a smaller standing
female figure holding a rectangular kolanut box in the manner of Ika
(cf. Fig. 192). The stool is supported by four smaller naked figures,
two males and two females.
The Ika cult of the hand
tradition is similar in many ways to that of Esan. For example, as in
Esan, Ika women may possess ikenga
images, although the form will differ from those made for men (Talbot
1926, vol. II: 142). Regalia of Edo origin can be seen in Ika figures
holding ada and ẹbẹn
swords (Fig. 162), but interaction with Ika Igbos is probably
responsible for the southern Ishan use of the term ikega,
in contrast to the northern preference for obọ
or
ikegobọ.
Three additional British Museum altars of the hand (1954.AF23.441,
442 and 443), also labelled "Esan?" (Figs. 193, 194), are
now known to be Igbo uvo
panels which are attached to
ikenga
figures to signal the success of their owners (Boston 1977: 82; Cole
and Aniakor 1984: 32). The simplest form of uvo resembles the
abstract hieratic groupings at the top of Esan figural ikegobọ
images (Fig. 193; cf. Fig. 183).
The portability of small
cult of the hand objects has probably been an important factor in the
diffusion of forms and ideas throughout southern Nigeria. The Esan
hand pestle type of ikegobọ
is similar to Southern Edo obọ,
for example, while hom-on-stool images are nearly identical in Esan
and Igboland. Hierarchic figures found in Esan ikegobọ,
as well as in Southern Edo ivri
and Ijo efiri,
were probably inspired by Benin imagery. The Ishan emphasis on the
stool form, rather than horns, is also a legacy from Benin ikegobọ
images. Within Ishan, sculptures cross boundaries between kingdoms;
for example, an ikegobọo
wned by the Uwangue of Udo was produced by a carver from Okhuesan
(Chief Odebhulu, Uwangue of Udo, 6 December 1980), while another
owned by a man in Ujiogba was carved by someone from Ogwa (Ehizua
Imoisili, Ujiogba, 30 November 1980). The forms of Esan ikegobọ
have not been codified, even within a single area, and appear open to
individual preferences as well stimuli from neighboring traditions.
In this light, therefore, it is not surprising that hen images (Fig.
181), which function in Benin as ancestral memorials, should have
been pressed into service as ikega
in Ugbegun.
Terminology and ideas concerning the practice
of the cult of the hand also cross ethnic boundaries. Divergent ideas
which are impinging upon one other today, however, may have evolved
in each region from a shared basic belief in supernatural control
over the power of the hands.6 This basic concept may be as ancient as
the ancestral staff tradition, which overlaps much of the same
territory. In other words, the forms taken by cult of the hand
practices and sculptures result from internal development as well as
long-standing and continuing interaction with neighboring groups. In
each location, the cult of the hand must have developed together with
other cultural constructs, including ideas about status, measures of
success, and the relative position of men and women in society. The
shape of these concepts (and others) determine the degree of
receptivity of each culture to new ideas from outside the
culture.
Esan shares certain cult of the hand features
with the Benin, Southern Edo, Igbo, and Igala peoples, but no alien
tradition has been adopted in a comprehensive way. Some forms and
practices filtered into the region, but others failed to pass through
the cultural barriers at the Esan borderlands. For example, the Esan
cult resembles that of Benin in venerating both hands, and including
women in hand observances, but Esan ikegobọ
images remain small and simple, while those of Benin are ranked by
size, material, and degree of elaboration. Similarly, Esan seemingly
____________________
6.
A
more localized version of this theory was proposed by R.E. Bradbury
(1961: 138, n.14) who suggested that the Igbo and Benin versions of
the cult of the hand may have developed independently or else
diverged from a single ancestral source.
appropriated
the horns-on-stool object from Igbo1and (sometimes reinterpreting the
horns as hands), but rejected other ikenga
forms,
such as warrior images, together with the Igbo emphasis on male
aggression. Ultimately, the absence of references to violence and
warfare distinguishes the Ishan cult of the hand from all
neighbouring traditions. Perhaps even more significantly, the Esan
emphasis on seniority deviates from other traditions which glorify
elevated social or political status. Instead, the Esan ikegobọ
cult and sculptures are egalitarian expressions of the Ishan culture
which underlies the political system imposed by Benin. This level of
Esan culture, emphasizes lineage welfare and the achievements of
mature and elderly members of the community.
Ighole
Figures
Divination
is an important means of communication with the supernatural world
which is undertaken by specialists on behalf of the Ishan community.
Among the varied paraphernalia used by Esan diviners (enebo,
sing ọbo),
the ighole
figure is exclusive to the ojiọbo,
the highest ranking among them, and is the only divinatory apparatus
which is a carved sculpture. The typical ighole
image
(Figs. 195, 196) depicts a single figure or hieratic group on a
cylindrical base. The human features of the
ighole
figure are simple and often minimal. Subsidiary figures, in
particular, are often reduced to mere posts (Fig. 196).
There
is no significant visual difference between the simplest ighole
figures and the figural ikegobọ
images with hierachic groups on a cylindrical base (cf. Figs. 196 and
184). Both are also recipients of sacrifice, and hold offerings in
front of the figures. The ighole
must not, however, be construed as the diviner's ikegobọ.
Rather, ighole,
which may be translated as "sponsor"7 (Idemudia Ojiemhen,
Uromi, 3 August 1980), is a helpmate to the diviner and a conduit for
communication with the supernatural world. During a divination
ceremony, the ighole
figure is placed on the earth within a chalk circle (ẹsẹ)
which defines a pure and sacred space for contact with the other
world (Fig. 197). Green leaves, representing medicinal power, are
placed in front of the figure; offerings of palm wine (anyọn)
and other substances may be enfolded within the leaves. The ighole
figure oversees the divination procedure, accepts offerings from the
diviner and clients, and conveys questions from them to the
supernatural world. Ighole
also helps the diviner to discover the answers by controlling the
actions of the divination equipment (Ebhoyimhen Eguabor, Ugbegun, 24
September 1980).
_______________________________________
7.
The term
ighole
is also translated as "godparent." One of the functions of
the ighole
figure
is to assist the diviner in identifying appropriate godparents or
sponsors for infant children. The ighole
figure serves as a godparent or sponsor for the diviner himself
(Ebhoyirnhen Eguabor, Ugbegun, 24 September 1980; Idemudia Ojiernhen,
Uromi, 3 August 1980).
Despite
their divergent functions, some
ighole
and ikegobọ
images look alike. Indeed, in the absence of collection data
regarding the use of such objects, it is difficult to assign them
with assurance to one category. For example, an image in a private
collection (Fig. 198) depicts a seated figure whose elbows and hands
rest upon featureless supports. The figure, whose concave heart
shaped face suggests a southern Esan origin, is seated on an
elaborate base which includes relief animal and human images as well
as a variety of geometric forms. There is some decay at the top of
the base which is consistent with the placement of offerings in front
of the figure. Both the image of a supported figure on a cylindrical
base and the evidence of sacrifice could belong to either the ikegobọ
or ighole
sculptural tradition. The base images provide no clue in either
direction. Only the relatively large size (nearly thirty inches high)
suggests that this figure belonged to a diviner, since ikegobọ
images are typically much smaller. This conclusion, however, is no
more than an educated guess, and might be overturned with the
discovery of additional ikegobọ
images.
While some ighole
and ikegobọ
images look alike, there is presently insufficient information to
determine whether one served as the model for the other, or if the
image of a figure on a stool-like base was appropriated for use in
two different religious contexts from another source. As we have
seen, the ikegobọ
tradition allows the use of a great variety of objects, among which
figural examples are relatively rare. On the other hand, the ighole
figure is so intimately associated with the most proficient diviners
that the latter are sometimes called Ọbo-ighole
as well as ojiọbo.
Nevertheless, divination also admits new forms to its corpus of
equipment. Recently, a brightly painted figure carved outside Esan in
a modern style (Fig. 199) was designated an ighole
image (Christopher Igbenovia, Ogwa, 3 October 1980).
Ọmọrhan
Figures
Ọmọrhan
are small wooden figures which are often carved as playthings for
young girls, who may, however, keep them to adulthood. Meaning "child
of wood," the ọmọrhan
does not acquire religious significance unless there is a crisis in
the adult owner's life. If she fails to bear a child after marriage,
for example, or if illness befalls her children, her ọmọrhan
figure may be placed in the shrine as a visual appeal to the
ancestors. An existing doll or an ọmọrhan
figure carved specifically for deposit in a shrine may also be
offered to the ancestors in thanksgiving for a child conceived or
saved through their beneficence. A woman may also place an omorhan in
the ancestral shrine as a token of atonement for an offense such as
disregard for her husband's family, or adultery – which could
threaten the welfare of her family (Owobu Okouromi, Irrua, 11 October
1980).
Whether originally intended as dolls or carved as
religious objects, ọmọrhan
figures are generally simple, and sometimes crude, human forms. Most
are full figures (Figs. 200, 201) but some consist of heads and
torsos only (Figs. 202, 203). While some are devoid even of facial
features (Fig. 204), others include details of tattooing, ornament,
and coiffure (Figs. 200-203). A range of types may be found in a
single area, and some of these exhibit relationships with neighboring
groups. In a single compound in Ogwa, for example, a woman displayed
an ọmọrhan
figure of an Esan type, while a boy brought out his mother's figure
(Fig. 205) which was probably carved in Ibibio country at some
distance across the Niger River. Frank Willett (1971: 197, 200, Fig.
194) noted that the Ibibio trade was at least several generations
old; in the 1950s, he acquired an Ibibio doll from an elderly Esan
woman who had owned it since childhood. Small dolls in Ibibio style
may still be purchased in markets in Benin today.
At the
turn of the century in Irrua, Northcote Thomas collected a number of
dolls which are now housed in the University Museum of Archaeology
and Anthropology in Cambridge, England (Accession Nos. Z12737,
Z12772, Z12787, Z12790, Z12792, Z12817). Of two full figures, one is
extremely crude, and another has Esan features including
isẹkẹle
body marks and facial tattoos (Fig. 201). The remaining four are
half-figures which combine familiar body tattoos and facial
scarification marks with unusual cylindrical bodies and various
crested hairdos (Figs. 202, 203). Similar dolls with crested hairdos
are also found among the Northern Edo peoples (Borgatti 1971: Plates
44-47, 52).
Borgatti suggests (1971: 24, n.l) that Irrua
in Esan and Agbede in Northern Edo country were at the center of the
cylindrical doll tradition, which may have diffused to other Northern
Edo areas such as Otua during the upheavals of the nineteenth
century. Certainly Irrua had close ties with Agbede, culminating in
intermarriage between the royal families which prompted the
conversion of Onojie Eromosele to Islam around 1897 (Okojie [1960]:
197). Both areas, however, may also have been exposed, as a result of
the movements of peoples during the nineteenth-century jihads, to the
sculpture of north eastern groups such as the Wurkun, who also carve
small cylindrical figures with crested hairdos (Wittmer and Arnett
1978: Figs. 207-209). A sagittal crest is also an old-fashioned
woman's hair style among the Jukun and other peoples to the northeast
(Rubin
________________________________
8.
The
hair crests of the ọmọrhan
figures link them with kolanut containers depicting figures with
unusual crests (Figs. 145, 146). These vessels probably derive from
northern Esan.
1969:
64). Unlike the Ibibio figures, which were imported to Ishan, the
northern figures may only have provided inspiration to Ishan carvers,
who combined alien features with Ishan ethnic
markings.
Conclusion
Much
of Esan religious sculpture is associated, directly or indirectly,
with the ancestors. As we have seen, ọmọrhan
figures may be offered to the ancestors by wives of the householder,
and ikegobọ
images are often i stored on ancestral altars where men invoke their
aid for the welfare of the entire family. Ighole
figures and other divination objects can be kept in a shrine to Osun,
the medicine deity (Christopher Igbenovia, Ogwa, 3 October 1980;
Okosun Omoregie, Ewohimi, 4 July 1980), but because divination is
commonly hereditary and the paraphernalia is passed from father to
son, they may be stored instead on the ancestral altar, or in a
shrine which combines service to Osun and the ancestors (Ebhoyimhen
Eguabor, Ugbegun, 24 September 1980; Owobu Ikhine, Ugboha, 12 June
1980).
Ikegobọ,
ighole,
and ọmọrhan
images (like the majority of ukhurẹ
ancestral staffs, and the okpọ
staffs which represent the moral authority of elders) belong to the
egalitarian religious structures of Esan society. In form, these
objects are small and simple; those belonging to kings and chiefs are
typically not distinguished from those possessed by ordinary
citizens. The forms of these sculptures are highly variable, and have
elements in common with art traditions of neighboring groups. In the
case of the ikegobọ
and
ighole
images, the artistic relationships may be ancient and are oriented to
the east and south, while many ọmọrhan
figures appear to reflect relatively recent (probably nineteenth
century) contacts with peoples to the north as well as the
south-east. The portability of these small forms is a likely factor
in the diffusion of their forms, but in general the art of Esan
commoners appears to have been more open to change than the art of
elites, whose house posts, doors, and fine furnishings were not only
elaborate, but symbolic of the status and privileges of the powerful.
The religious art form which is most clearly illustrative, however,
of both the independent spirit of the common people and the lively
interaction between Esan and neighbouring groups is that of the mask.
