A Brass carved wood seated male figure "The Warrior"

A Brass carved wood seated male figure "The Warrior", Nigeria, with a bowler hat and white pigment face, late 19th century, 108cm high.

Provenance

King Ockiya, Brass, Nigeria

Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, Church Missionary Society

This carved figure was one of the three idols belonging to King Ockiya, of Brass, a port on the Niger delta. They were given to Bishop Crowther, who in 1864 became the first black Anglican bishop. He converted the king to Christianity, who during his reign commissioned figures made in a naturalistic style. They were often representations of his court or family and also deities.

A series of photographs taken in 1878 - 1879 show the present figure known as the Warrior or god of war, with two other figures. The large central one, known as Kakenga, now in the National Museum of African Art, Washington, and the female figure on the right, now in the British museum.