Igbo Wood Ikenga Shrine Figure

A carved wooden ikenga, or personal shrine figure, in the form of a tall anthropomorphic warrior with twin horns curling around the head. The figure sits on a minimally rendered stool and holds a severed head in one hand; the now-missing hand would have held a sword or dagger. In Igbo society the ikenga symbolises masculine strength and the capacity to achieve through one's own effort, and figures of this kind were placed on or beside a personal altar.