  About the Artwork
  
  
  The king of Owo, a village in Nigeria, was traditionally the only person who could wear ivory ornaments. This ivory bracelet may have been worn by the king during Ore, an important ancient festival. The female heads may represent Olokun, the goddess of the sea, and the crocodiles may be sacrificial victims for her. The crocodile's ability to both walk on land and swim in water acts as a metaphor for kingship, as it is believed that kings also live in two realms: the world of ordinary life and the world of the gods and spirits.
  
  
  Title
  Armlet
  
  
  Artwork Date
  between 16th and 18th century
  
  Artist
  ----------
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  ----------
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  African
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Yoruba
  
  
  Medium
  Ivory
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 1 1/4 × 4 5/16 inches (3.2 × 11 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Jewelry
  
  
  Department
  African Art
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Acquisitions Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  80.42
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
