2-734-968 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Memorial Figure (Ere ibeji), late 1800s-early 1900s. Such a figure is carved when a twin dies in infancy and serves as a memorial to the surviving sibling. These twin figures are always carved to look like adult individuals with idealized physical features. Various body adornments suggest the care parents devote to their children, while the erosion of facial features indicates the symbolic washing and feeding of the figure as a means to connect the soul of the deceased to that of the living twin.