{"data":{"id":189596,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/189596","is_boosted":false,"title":"Twin Figures (Ere Ibeji)","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhBQAFAPQAAHNeVXViWXtpYX5sYod5c4R9ep+en6CWj6ablaGfoLS0tLq5usLCwsbExNHLyNTNy9HQ0NPR0NfV1dfW1d3Z193d3eLg3+Pg3+ro5wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAAFAAUAAAUV4JIwhgIRVdFQgDU4V4AJj3RMSBQCADs=","width":2310,"height":2208,"alt_text":"A work made of wood, glass beads, and thread."},"main_reference_number":"1982.1513-14","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1900,"date_end":1975,"date_display":"Early\/mid\u201320th century","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Yoruba\nKisi or Old Oyo, Oyo region, Nigeria\nCoastal West Africa","place_of_origin":"Nigeria","description":"<p>The Yoruba of Nigeria believe that twins possess special powers and bring good fortune to those who honor them properly. However, babies birthed in multiples have an increased risk of dying during infancy. Figures like these, called \u00e8re \u00ecbej\u00ec, are memorials to deceased twins. When one twin dies, a single sculpture is commissioned; if both infants die, a sculptor creates two. The figures are ritually washed, dressed, and offered favorite foods. The heads of this pair have been repeatedly bathed with indigo, symbolizing the calming of the spirit\u2019s inner being.<\/p>\n","short_description":null,"dimensions":"1982.1514: 26.7 \u00d7 8.9 \u00d7 8.3 cm (10 1\/2 \u00d7 3 1\/2 \u00d7 3 1\/4 in.); 1982.1513 : 26.1 \u00d7 8.3 \u00d7 7.7 cm (10 1\/4 \u00d7 3 1\/4 \u00d7 3 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":8,"width":8,"height":26,"diameter":null,"clarification":"1982.1514"},{"depth":7,"width":8,"height":26,"diameter":null,"clarification":"1982.1513"}],"medium_display":"Wood, glass beads, and thread","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Gift of Deborah Stokes and Jeffrey Hammer","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"Moyo Okediji, \"Art of the Yoruba,\" African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 23, 2 (1997), pp. 179-181, fig. 34.","exhibition_history":"Art Institute of Chicago, Pass It On:  Celebrating Families, Aug. 15\u2013Nov. 29, 1998, no cat.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Critical Fabulation, Oct. 10, 2025-Jan. 4, 2026, no cat.","provenance_text":"Dr. Jeffrey Hammer and Ms. Deborah Stokes, Chicago, Ill., by 1982; given to the Art Institute, 1982.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":43,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":false,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":true,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":17.9325,"color":{"h":3,"l":52,"s":58,"percentage":0.0001484655344685008,"population":1},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Sculpture","artwork_type_id":3,"department_title":"Arts of Africa","department_id":"PC-1","artist_id":38474,"artist_title":"Yoruba","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[38474],"artist_titles":["Yoruba"],"category_ids":["PC-1"],"category_titles":["Arts of Africa"],"term_titles":["wood (plant material)","children","yoruba","carving","sculpture","glass beads","statuette","Coastal West Africa","arts of Africa","Arts of Africa","beadwork","ritual objects","african Art","african art","twins","indigo","pigment","thread","incising","painting (coating)"],"style_id":"TM-6181","style_title":"yoruba","alt_style_ids":["TM-13566","TM-14183","TM-13489"],"style_ids":["TM-6181","TM-13566","TM-14183","TM-13489"],"style_titles":["yoruba","Coastal West Africa","Arts of Africa","african Art"],"classification_id":"TM-13","classification_title":"sculpture","alt_classification_ids":["TM-114","TM-14182","TM-12318","TM-13486"],"classification_ids":["TM-13","TM-114","TM-14182","TM-12318","TM-13486"],"classification_titles":["sculpture","statuette","arts of Africa","ritual objects","african art"],"subject_id":"TM-10118","alt_subject_ids":["TM-13569"],"subject_ids":["TM-10118","TM-13569"],"subject_titles":["children","twins"],"material_id":"TM-2431","alt_material_ids":["TM-10533","TM-3398","TM-2509","TM-2963"],"material_ids":["TM-2431","TM-10533","TM-3398","TM-2509","TM-2963"],"material_titles":["wood (plant material)","glass beads","indigo","pigment","thread"],"technique_id":"TM-3863","alt_technique_ids":["TM-13573","TM-3851","TM-4005"],"technique_ids":["TM-3863","TM-13573","TM-3851","TM-4005"],"technique_titles":["carving","beadwork","incising","painting (coating)"],"theme_titles":[],"image_id":"8ade0c0d-456e-be6f-60ec-2d23f9c14eab","alt_image_ids":["6dfcf640-7f58-8eeb-ff9e-10594eccc43a"],"document_ids":["cb4b2557-071d-cb64-7195-2adc92592584"],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":["cb4b2557-071d-cb64-7195-2adc92592584"],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1982.1513-14"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Twin Figures (Ere Ibeji)"],"weight":5996,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-07-16T09:22:39-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-25T13:16:23-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-26T19:28:43-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.16"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}