Female bowl-bearers are well-recognized in the Yoruba figure-carving tradition. Known as olumeye, “one who knows honor,”they hold offering bowls whose prominent bird iconography references the sacrificial rooster, a symbol of prosperity. The bowls of olumeye are used to hold kola nuts as an offering of social hospitality or as receptacles for the sixteen sacred palm nuts used in divination. The figure offered here differs markedly from others in its class due to its standing posture. Olumeye are typically carved in a kneeling position, reflecting a spirit of devotion.

This straight-backed cup-bearer shows strong, stout limbs and a sure stance, with feet solidly planted. Close between projecting breasts it holds a cylindrical vessel topped with a small bird figure. Its large head is supported by a relatively slender neck and is crowned with a high, blue-pigmented crest coiffure that contrasts beautifully with the warm brown wood of the body.Abundant details are worked into the figure, with relief-carved adornments to the head, neck, wrists, waist, and ankles, including a prominent pair of rod-shaped earplugs.  

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