Rare and ancient Itsekiri/ Jekri paddle, Nigeria - Lot 40

Rare and ancient Itsekiri/ Jekri paddle, Nigeria Engraved wood 19th-20th centuries H. 152.5 cm Provenance : Christine Valluet Gallery Pierre Robin Collection A rare and exceptional wooden paddle, featuring a foliate blade with incised geometric decoration, and a handle with an openwork end. In the upper part of the blade, on each side, stylized representations of crocodiles stand out among the motifs, framing a central anthropomorphic figure, whose presence constitutes a rare iconographic element within this narrow corpus. The British Museum holds a small number of these rare paddles from the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. Our example, with its glossy black patina, also evokes a comparable paddle (Christie's Paris, Art Africain & Océanien, June 10, 2008, lot no. 78). Although attributed to the Jekri - considered a sub-group or early designation of the Itsekiri, these paddles would probably have been made by the Ijos, as suggested by Reginald K Granville and Felix N Roth in their article "Notes on the Jekris, Sobos and Ijos of the Warri District of the Niger Coast Protectorate" (In The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 28, No. 1/2,1899, pp. 104-126). An object of prestige as much as pageantry, this paddle was intended for ritual dances and ceremonies. In traditional Itsekiri society, where the pirogue occupied a central place in social, economic and spiritual life, the paddle became a powerful emblem, symbolizing prosperity, authority and status.