This Is Our Story

This saying or prayer is one of the numerous expressions among the Yorùbá about the door and its significance, not only as a physical and important aspect of their architecture, but also in their language and culture. It also alludes to its pride of place as perhaps the most decorated element of Yorùbá architecture. From private homes, to the homes of the rich, shrines, and palaces, Yorùbá doors are usually imbued with a considerable array of images and icons that proclaims the owner's identity, religion, occupation. The Yorùbá are not unique in this respect. For example, among the Dogon,1 the door is as important as the house on which it is affixed. The granary, according to Willett (2002: 176), protects the the food stored inside it, while the door is seen or referred to as an element not only for physical protection, but also as a spiritual means of warding off unwanted spirits. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect the door to receive aesthetic attention by embellishment with an array of images.A number of studies have been carried out on carved doors and other aspects of Yorùbá palace art, and these studies have provided vast knowledge about Yorùbá art and its meaning. Some of the most in-depth studies related to the present endeavor are by Kalilu (1992; 2015) on the art of Old y and how it has shaped the art of the new y. He also examined the tradition and history of legendary woodcarvers of Old y. Furthermore, he has provided some explanations2 for the few studies on the art of Old y and by extension that of the present y. Studies such as Meyerowitz (1943), Carroll (1967), Willett and Picton (1967), Drewal, Pemberton, and Abídún (1989), Drewal, Pemberton and Abídún (1994), Picton (1994), Willett (2002), and Walker (1998) have looked at the form and meaning and identification of carvers of Yorùbá doors and panels. Still, too little is known about the carved panels in the palace of the Aláàfin3 of y. Perhaps one of the reasons for this unsatisfactory state of affairs is that before now, access to parts of the palace was difficult,4 especially for outsiders. Abídún (2014: 290) has also suggested that, at the end of the series of Yorùbá wars that affected most Yorùbá kingdoms starting from Old y, there was a new beginning for Yorùbá creativity, a period he considered perfect for new àsà,5 new compositions, and new themes. The memories of such events were still very fresh and many Yorùbá artists portrayed the history of the wars and consequently new developments in Yorùbáland in their works. As we shall see, the carved panels and doors in the new y palace contain such images.Studies of Yorùbá carved doors and panels seem to be concentrated in the Èkìtì area among the Yorùbá, a region that has produced some of the most notable wood carvers in Africa. Only Meyerowitz (1943) seems to have attempted to document a large panel in the garden hall of y palace. Her study, however, attempted neither to do any in-depth formal analysis of the doors nor to provide meanings of the images on the panel. Meyerowitz actually seemed unimpressed by the artist(s) who carved the panel and those who commissioned it. In her opinion, the panel was not as competently executed as many other carved Yorùbá panels by Bamidele or Olówè of Ìsé, whose works have been more widely studied. This essay aims to correct this situation by examining closely the forms and meaning of the icons on these carved doors, with a view to showing how they are directly relevant to the history of y palace as an important institution among the Yorùbá. As much as possible, my analysis and interpretation will rely on Yorùbá oral traditions, considering one carved panel6 and two carved doors as visual metaphors.My analysis was carried out through a combination of the theory Roland Abídún put forth in Yorùbá Art and Language (2014) and Erwin Panofsky's theory on iconography and iconology. Abídún (2014: 55) suggests that “we look beyond what is cursorily observed if we are to understand Yorùbá art.” In essence he offers that “we should not be content with only formalistic analysis of Yorùbá art, but endeavor to understand it as an expression of the thought and belief system that produced it, lest we unwittingly remove the ‘African’ from African art.” Abídún's statement is directly relevant to the method that we must use in the investigation of the images on the panel and carved doors. Panofsky (1970), an art historian, also states that form in a work of art cannot be divorced from its content or context. He describes iconography as that branch of the history of art that concerns itself with art works’ subject matter, as opposed to their form. Iconography means, literally, “the study of images.” At its simplest level, the practice of iconography entails identifying motifs and images in works of art (D'Alleva 2014: 19). As a method in art historical studies, Panofsky (1982) defines iconography as a concern with the subject matter (meaning) as gleaned from the form; this opposes the theories of formalism7 put forth by Wolfflin, Blower, Levy, and Weddigen (2015), who stated that the examination of a work of art must engage only in rigorous formal analysis, and Fry (1920), who held that a work of art is irreducible to context and that it should only be analyzed and enjoyed for its formal qualities. Analyzing most African works of art using only formal analysis—especially a formalism that is based on Western perspectives—may not be adequate in our quest to understand the reason for their production.There are several oral accounts of the construction of Old y palace before it was totally destroyed and abandoned (see Goddard 1971: 207).8 It was reportedly the largest and most imposing of Yorùbá palaces, with over 100 courtyards. According to Willett (1959), the city itself was said to cover about 20 square miles and it was located about 40 miles northwest of Ilorin; today there is still evidence of ruins at the site. The palace had two large parks,9 one in front, and the other in back. One of the most outstanding features of the old palace was the design and construction of about 120 porches (kbì), which can be traced back to Oluàso, one of the illustrious Aláàfin in Old y, who reigned from 1357 ad (Ogunmola 2010: 148).10 These later became the template for imposing porch entrances in many Yorùbá palaces (Johnson 1976). In addition to the palace gardens, there were carved posts that supported the roof, carved doors, and panels and works of art, while the courtyard remained central for social activities within the palaces. The status of the Aláàfin, as the only Yorùbá Ọba11 charged with the responsibility of overseeing a vast empire, is refected in the immensity of the palace and its extensive decoration, as it was remembered in Old y (Folárànmí 2015).It is noteworthy that the present y palace (Fig. 1) is the only Yorùbá palace where a conscious effort has been made to replicate the artifacts destroyed during the nineteenth century wars. Aláàfin Abídún Àtìbà, according to several accounts (Johnson 1976; Falola, Dortmont, and Adeyemi 1989; Kalilu 1992; Ogunmola 2010), tried to rebuild from what was left of the ruins in the Old y palace. The new palace is, however, noticeably smaller in size because much of the available space was already occupied by Àgó.12 This explains why the new palace only had about thirty documented courtyards. Many of these courtyards were used for social, domestic, and religious functions, and the entrances to most of these courtyards had plain carved doors called abógundé (Fig. 2), apparently named after the lineage of the family responsible for creating them.These doors were usually made up of single panel frames carved out of a single log, with projections at two opposing ends which serve as the hinge on which the door rotates. Today many of these doors have been changed to relatively weaker but modern flush plywood doors. Apart from the abógundé there are four13 carved doors/panels which adorn the entrances of important sections of the palace. These are carved doors like those commonly seen in many ancient Yorùbá palaces. A carved panel served as a background screen for the throne of the Aláàfin inside the Summer Garden Hall. There are also two carved doors on the two entrances into the Àwòdì òkè reception hall now used by the Aláàfin.The Garden Hall (Fig. 3) located within the àgbàlá koríko is one of the additions to the palace in the modern era. It is said to have been constructed in 1934 during the reign of Ọba Siyanblá Ládìgbòlù, who reigned from 1911 to 1944. Much development and construction (and especially the Garden Hall) in the palace also probably took place during his reign. The hall now serves social, political, and religious functions.The carved panel14 (Fig. 4) commissioned by Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù served as the backdrop to the throne of the Aláàfin when it was the official reception hall of the palace. It is imbued with numerous anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and other images. Meyerowitz (1943) wrote about this carved screen panel and the dais for the throne of the Aláàfin; she did not, however, discuss the significance of the carved images on the screen. Òjó (1966) presented an image of the panel along with the throne. Its most recent reflection in the activities of the Aláàfin was during the installation ceremony of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abíólá as the 14th Ààrẹ nàkakanfò15 of Yorùbáland in 1992.The screen (Fig. 4) is a large panel of about 295 cm by 313 cm, made up of eight strips of panels of about 31 cm by 313 cm each, joined together with the aid of nails made by local blacksmiths. Two strips of 31 cm-wide panels are joined together to make four separate wholes. These are then linked to each other with hinges to enable the screen to fold into place and stand by itself without any support. The images were carved onto each of the strips constituting the panel before they were joined together. Unlike many Yorùbá carved panels, this one seems to have been treated with wood varnish, which most probably was a later addition. On the whole, there are about 45 compositions with about 135 individual carved images on the entire screen. I will analyze this panel thematically and according to the images represented.This carved panel and the mural on the main entrance of the palace were commissioned by Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù and they function primarily as a visual oríkì that chronicles the attributes and activities of the Aláàfin (Abídún 2014: 11–13). The carvers depict all that goes on within and around the ààfin16 (the palace) while also calling the attention to the Aláàfin as an ọba (a sovereign) with the powers of an orisa. According to Bàbà Ọbakáiyéjá,17 most of the animals and other subjects and compositions represented on the panel were animals kept by the Aláàfin who commissioned the carving. The compositions on this panel address two broad themes: anthropomorphic and zoomorphic beings (Folárànmí 2015). Other identified images include embroidery motifs and items produced by man.There are forty animals represented on the panel. We can identify birds (ostriches), catfish, reptiles (snakes, crocodiles, lizards or wall geckos, chameleons) pangolins, goats or antelopes, monkeys, horses, tortoises, and leopards. We see a crocodile eating another animal, a man or king riding a horse, and a snake biting its tail; some of the animals represented here seem to recall gifts to the Aláàfin from hunters, friends, and subjects. Whatever is represented here has specific symbolic meaning to the Ọba as the spiritual and political head of his kingdom.The horse, for instance, is an animal that is often associated with cavalry, royalty, and affluence. It is one of the numerous animals kept in the palace by the Aláàfin. He had enough of them that he created a small ranch called àgbàla koríko (grass courtyard) and a káà ẹsin (stall for horses) where these animals were taken care of by slaves. The strength and power of the horse are used metaphorically to describe the Aláàfin, whom his subjects perceived as a great leader and warrior. The equestrian figures on the panel appear to be referencing a Yorùbá proverb,18 expressed summarily when they say:It is a way of introducing proverbs into conversation; it compares the power of the Yorùbá proverbs with that of the horse. In another proverb the horse takes an additional role:The relevance of this to the Aláàfin is the expectation that he leads, while others should follow his good and credible example (Folárànmí 2012).The reptilian representations on the panel, such as lizard, gecko, and crocodile, would suggest and the to among in y, where reigned as the Aláàfin and was The snake form which is very on Yorùbá carved panels and also be a of and that the snake be a of is associated with and called the king of or the of the Aláàfin, his to as meaning the Aláàfin is “the king of the in The Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù kept the as a in his palace (Folárànmí and the Aláàfin the (Fig. in recall what must have been a in y. The image in Yorùbá and art and is on the of The most of the is its to and into its This is the way it protects itself in the especially and much This power is to have been to it by the It is that the to is by the Ọba to and therefore, the image of the the are figures in and activities on the panel. to the hunters, and to the palace. Some are who include and others who the palace during the reign of Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù (Folárànmí was a very good of Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù and was in the to Siyanblá Ládìgbòlù after the of his (Ogunmola see images of a man a or with on it and a or on one and an called a on the and a and a that they are and that and had a in Yorùbáland at the the panel was Other images a man a and (Fig. There are also compositions of and and with of Yorùbá and (see for more on Yorùbá Yorùbá are unique in their form and now on the of they were a form of identification among the were also forms of which is the reason Yorùbá much and to the of the because of the There are also or on with and made of (a used for and These are of and for the of y and the is an image on this panel showing a man on a (Fig. an that the had in y at the the screen was it seems that the carvers were not only of developments around them during the reign of Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù, but were them for in their were also on their with and (Fig. and before an that the Yorùbá belief in the power of in the of It is noteworthy that the and of the figures them as our and of in Yorùbá religious thought the Aláàfin only with the and of Pemberton, and Abídún As their in the is and This is usually or expressed in proverbs and that are to the for example, meaning that is is like a important design present in most of these panels is called which frames many There are of this on the panel This is in especially and and is on Yorùbá and carved doors, and religious wood and It is also a design on Yorùbá and other such as carved and on Yorùbá (Fig. Some meanings such as and to these It is only in of that it was for Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù to many works of art for the palace. reign one of the most in y and It was a when to new and on these door panels is from that in Yorùbá. The of the door is still a subject of as of the carvers in y today seem to be to identify the family of those responsible for these carved panels. It is also most that the panels were from Old y, because of the of relatively recent images such as the and that artists from were in to the The panel is, however, to a Yorùbá carved door in the palace of of to of was carved by of and the panel chronicles a items of and around the palace at a in It also and developments from the it was when Yorùbá was many as the of several and the y. These are refected by the of and of the on the screen. The of seen in this panel is also from the works of artists like or of One that it was for this reason that Meyerowitz was not by the y door panels. For they were not a example of a carved panel. to that the of y palace doors was from its the visual of the Aláàfin and his subjects. one other works of art created at the Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù it is that he had a great on what he was remembered for and He to his and artists to his (Folárànmí the entrances of the Àwòdì reception hall are two carved doors. One is on the main entrance the while the other is on the of the hall an of which is now used as a The doors were probably on these entrances after the of the hall that the main entrance doors were a combination of in wood in (see Òjó According to of the doors were made by his He that he took in the of the doors and also carved posts in the palace when his and others from their were in the palace. He that all of this took place during the reign of Aláàfin Ládìgbòlù door on the main entrance (Fig. is of two separate panels cm by cm, each into four The on the left panel two figures a On the are two of the Aláàfin, his on The four with on their while the two each on to one The of the panel also has two a is a central of a or king by two one with a on her back. The a the and two figures are on the two central one her and two figures images on the Aláàfin and the around his and There is also a carved in the palace of the Aláàfin of y. was a of the Aláàfin. Aláàfin is seen as he is referred to as meaning whose power is like that of the or who is only to the carved door on the of the Àwòdì hall (Fig. is a door with the panels together in the to form a panel has four to the main entrance and is about cm by It is that this was carved by the artist(s) from As with the other the panels are into four on each activities and with and or There are figures perhaps of the Aláàfin. is for the king to on where the of his means he was in such all to the Aláàfin, such as is the Two figures with as if to the are on the while the of two figures with in panel also has four starting with a her and before a The perhaps is an image of the in the This also to the of the in the religious affairs of the palace and of the of the doors is the of the that are of Yorùbá which to that the palace is a place for all the Yorùbá. The of especially and the of who in y or who are of the palace as an not only identify the lineage of a but are also a form of The two doors here the around the his and hunters, without any is that the carved doors attention to entrances in Yorùbá architecture. the door is usually one of the of is made to that the is and the status of the or of the The carved doors in the palace all these the we see that the art of y palace a in the and significance of the the Aláàfin, and the of y. The images on these doors and panel a of ancient and to the of a great institution that has a of the study in this is important because of the with relevance to the present Her is that many African to the of important and from the forms were widely used for This is also very relevant to the on the carved doors in the palace of the Aláàfin of has many social and and art have examined art with a view to of evidence that will in the of a In it is more because language relatively especially of the in like where were art was and an important in the of It is these of we have with on the carved doors of y images and motifs on these doors and panel have been used to and historical over of It is not therefore, that art should an important element in the and of The artists who carved these doors left very important and historical aspects of their how African artists to for what they see around them and how Yorùbá to and their through the (Folárànmí 2015). This is by who that “the history of the Yorùbá up to the nineteenth is the history of a This not the of a historical but that history was in oral and visual such as carved doors. As Roland Abídún (2014: it, animals like monkeys, and as refected on the carved panels, and other in or in in (and by extension should be with the of The artists as in have created a visual oríkì that to the the images usually to the Aláàfin, they also address of social religion, and the of the It has been by many that art usually in of these carved doors to the when the were at when there was and when the about their work and in an There is a to to and study more about these especially as new works are will provide that can to the of knowledge on Yorùbá art in the

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Doors · Element (criminal law) · Iconography · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Prayer · Pride · Theology · Visual arts · Yoruba · Architecture · Engineering · Historical Art and Architecture Studies · Law · Philosophy

• Yoruba Art and Language

  Open Access•Rowland Abiọdun•Yoruba Art and Language•2014

  Add to list

• Yoruba Palace Gardens

  J B Falade•Garden History•1990

  Add to list

• The Decorative Arts of Africa

  Herbert M Cole, Louise E Jefferson•African Arts•1974

  Add to list

• Lamidi Olonade Fakeye

  Jean M Borgatti, Lamidi Olonade Fakeye et al.•African Arts•1997

  Add to list

• Yoruba

  Henry John Drewal, John Pemberton Iii et al.•African Arts•1989

  Add to list

• Iwe Itan Ọyọ

  Open Access•Toyin Falola, Michel R Doortmont et al.•The Journal of African History•1989

  Add to list

• The Yoruba Artist

  Jean M Borgatti, Rowland Abiọdun et al.•The International Journal of…•1996

  Add to list

• Ago That became Oyo

  Stephen Goddard•Geographical Journal•1971

  Add to list

• Yoruba Religious Carving

  A K Quarcoo, Kevin Carroll•Journal of Religion in Africa•1971

  Add to list

• On the Identification of Individual Carvers

  Frank Willett, John Picton•Man•1967

  Add to list

• Recent Excavations at Old Oyo and Ife, Nigeria

  Frank Willett•Man•1959

  Add to list

• Wood-Carving in the Yoruba Country To-day

  Open Access•Eva L R Meyerowitz•Africa•1943

  Add to list