The Yoruba Essie stone statutes: manifestation of a people’s confidence

The magnificent Esie stone figurines had been known to the locals for generations before they were ‘discovered’ in 1775, which dates them to the Era of Indulgence of the Ancient Yoruba Civilisation (ie between 1000BC and 1000AD). The Esie figurines consisted of over a thousand pieces ranging in height from 14cm to over a metre. They were carved from steatite or soapstone materials. Many of the statutes held farm instruments, hunting tools, and musical drums, flutes, and idiophones. Most were carved sitting on mushroom-shaped stools. Pregnant women are shown to be kneeling. The hairstyles in some were thick with beautifully detailed plaits; some heads were adorned with elaborate headwears. Others had flamboyant bead jewellery on their bodies. Scarification marks are visible on some faces.

The current interpretations of these Esie figurines are widely off the mark. In truth, the statutes are a testament to innate human vanity. Subjects sat on the same-style stools because they were sitting to have their portraits carved. Artisans - farmers, musicians, hunters - carried the badges of their profession for their portraits. Facial (scarification) marks were for family or clan (Ebi) identification. Those with elaborate headwears and jewellery would have been brides and grooms and their families. Pregnant women shown kneeling depicted the usual birthing position. The variety of styles indicates the work of more than one portraitists. The facial marks on some statutes - 3 horizontal eye-to-ear lines and vertical chin lines - indicate that the people depicted were not of Esie origin, but more likely western Yoruba people, probably Oyo. The way that the Esie figurines were presented when found in 1775, and the surprise they engendered in the local population, confirm that the statutes were brought to Esie (presumably for safekeeping) and not sculpted there. Yorubaland, particularly its northern and western regions, hosts extensive deposits of soapstone, indeed, currently estimated to be over 100 tonnes.

Baasegun (Dr) Olusola Oni, Leader  of the Yoruba Party in the UK (YPUK, www.yorubapartyuk.org