Thorn Carving

Thorn carvings are miniatures depicting a variety of scenes from Nigerian life. The carvings first began to be made circa 1930. The thorns vary in size; they can be as large as 12.7 cm long and 9.6 cm wide. The thorn wood is comparatively soft and easy to carve; they are traditionally carved by men.

This thorn carving was made specifically for the donors by the artist.

craft; tourist art

The Yoruba alphabet is written on the blackboard.

The light yellow-brown thorn and the dark brown thorn come from the ata tree; the light red-brown thorn comes from egun trees. The parts are glued together with viscous paste made that was made from rice cooked with water.

A representation of a classroom with eight students sitting on four benches with a boy and a girl on each bench. The girls are wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts. The teacher is wearing a skirt and a blouse, and she is standing at an easel blackboard at the front of the class using a pointer to indicate numerals and letters on the board. A chair and a table are also in front of the class. There are two closed, and one open, book on the table. All clothing is light brown. All limbs, heads, chair, table, legs, and bench supports are dark brown. Books are light red-brown. Bench seats, table top, blackboard, and floor are plywood. The tripod and pointer are other wood. On a square wood base.