Yoruba Bowl-Bearer Figure, Igbomina, Nigeria

The Igbomina Yoruba bowl-bearer figure (ère agbá or ère àgbàdo) is a traditional sculptural form produced by skilled carvers of the Igbomina Yoruba subgroup in north-central Nigeria. These kneeling or standing figures, typically female, support bowls or vessels used in divination, ritual offerings, and royal display, embodying ideals of reverence, fertility, and communal devotion. Created over several centuries as part of a living artistic tradition, individual works are often attributed to specific regional workshops or master carvers whose identities were rarely recorded in Western documentation.