YORUBA, Nigeria. First half of the 20th century. - Lot 192

YORUBA, Nigeria. First half of the 20th century. Large carved ceremonial drum resting on three tripod feet. The shaft is richly adorned with a narrative decoration carved in the round. The lower part features a continuous frieze of stylized birds, with tapered beaks planted in the bottom of the shaft. The middle zone is animated by figurative scenes associating several figures: a seated woman holding two birds with outstretched wings; a seated figure wearing a European hat and holding a rifle; a standing soldier with his hand on his head; an administrator seated on a seat and holding a book; an African chief wearing a hat and holding a chain linking several figures. The ensemble is completed by a cyclist on an antique bicycle, wearing a cap and smoking a pipe. The upper part is encircled by a decorative band with intersecting geometric motifs evoking a honeycomb. Wood, remnants of natural pigment polychromy, animal skin, old patina, wear marks. Height Height : 112 cm diameter : 60 cm This large ceremonial drum is distinguished by the breadth and richness of its carved decoration, conceived as a veritable pictorial narrative. The scene combines local and European figures, reflecting the way in which the Yoruba integrated, observed and interpreted the new forms of authority, circulation and exchange introduced in the first half of the 20th century. The seated woman holding two birds with outstretched wings occupies a central position of mediation and symbolic mastery. The figures linked by a chain suggest a bond of interdependence and control, evoking the structured relationships between administration, local chiefs and exchange networks. The presence of the cyclist, a figure of modernity, underlines the arrival of new modes of travel and communication. A sound instrument and a narrative medium, this drum combines ritual function and collective memory; its extensive marks of use and ancient patina testify to repeated use in public contexts, where sound and image were jointly involved in the transmission of history and social transformations.