16th or 17th century - Copper

The large bulging eyes, proturding lips, and stylized ears of this figure are characteristics of late Ife art as it developed into the mordern Yoruba style, from the sixteenth century onward.  The gesture made by the hands with one grasping the thumb of the other, is characteristic of the Ogboni Society, a secret society responsible for justice and for the Egbe of the earth in Yorubaland.