Photographs © Tim Hamill
IGBO
DOOR 18
74" high
$2500
This Igbo door has been vetted as being authentic with significant signs of use and age.
This door is exceptional with complex patterns and generations of slow weathering.
This large, heavy door from one piece of wood had a large crack (break, braced in back) that has been restored. It is now stable. The diagonal line across the front and back photographs is just a shadow. The door is wired for hanging.
These intricately carved doors show the flair for abstraction of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Carved of a sacred hardwood, iroko, for major patrons, they served as entrance portals to an obi, the male meeting house. Iroko wood is associated with males, power and certain mysteries. The tree's spirit is ritually placated before felling. The large planks were extremely difficult to cut from the dense wood of the iroko tree. The doors are distinguished by the careful chip carving into V-shaped grooves and the contrasts of plain with densely carved areas. Our collection of 20 doors plus two side panels is exceptional with most showing complex patterns and generations of slow weathering.
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