Carved Wooden Shrine Object from Aboh Town
A monochrome photograph depicting a multi-tiered carved wooden sculpture from South Ika, Aboh town. The object features a superior tier with two elongated anthropomorphic figures wearing cylindrical, flat-topped headpieces with vertical striations. The figures possess protruding eyes and slender torsos with central vertical grooves. The intermediate tier consists of a block-like mass with animalistic characteristics, including a snout-like structure with horizontal slits. The base is supported by four thick, rectangular pillar-like legs. The sculpture is positioned against a backdrop of dark, draped fabric with deep vertical folds.
Community Notes
Onyeka Nwokike
Oct 16, 2026
This object is cataloged as item ika3 within the Ika (or Western Igbo) region of the G.I. Jones Archive. Its multi-tiered vertical structure is characteristic of a specific genre of shrine sculpture known as Nwamno figures, which are also documented in the South Ika and Ogume areas (items ika11, ika12, and ika14). As detailed in records from the Igbo Archives, Nwamno sculptures typically feature a base supporting pillars that elevate a grouping of anthropomorphic figures.
Onyeka Nwokike
Oct 16, 2026
Aboh serves as the center of the Aboh Kingdom in the Ndokwa region of present-day Delta State. While listed as South Ika in the archive, the town was founded by a group of Ika Igbo who migrated south from the Agbor country during a period of conflict and succession disputes in the western Niger. According to historical accounts of the Aboh Kingdom, this migration was led by Obi Essumei Ukwu, and the Ika people significantly influenced the royal and military institutions of the newly established riverine community.
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