LARGE NUPE PALACE DOOR Phillips Stevens, writing in ‘Nupe Wood Carving’ ("Nigeria Magazine", no.88, March 1966, pp.29-31) states: "Representational motifs are most commonly used in the carving of door panels, most notably in Lapai (Abuja Emirate) where the carvers of Sakiwa’s compound have been instrumental in keeping alive this form of carving, and in Agaie (Bida Emirate) whose carvers operate largely in the Sakiwa tradition. The doors are carved in two, three, four or five separate panels, depending on the size of the door frame and the thickness of available trees. In all cases the background is plain, with the highly stylized forms carved in high-relief. The objects represented fall into five categories: articles made by the carvers, such as canoe paddles, spoons, shoes and Muslim writing boards; common household objects, including fans, smoking pipes, padlocks, keys, weapons such as bows and arrows, guns, sheathed and unsheathed knives and matchets, and the carvers’ own tools, the axe, adze, and small knife.; symbols; animals; and man. …Animals represented are Fulani cows, turtles, horses, snakes, chameleons, dogs, duikers, snails, lizards, a variety of birds (some resembling the ostrich), including a strange, double-headed and four-legged bird of no apparent significance. The highly stylized representation of a man seems a recent innovation, not evident on older doors." The wear on the present lot and the absence of a human figure suggests an early date for this door. 243 cm. high Literatur Stoll, M. and G., "Galerie Schwarz-Weiss", Munich, 1986, no.17. LARGE NUPE PALACE DOOR Phillips Stevens, writing in ‘Nupe Wood Carving’ ("Nigeria Magazine", no.88, March 1966, pp.29-31) states: "Representational motifs are most commonly used in the carving of door panels, most notably in Lapai (Abuja Emirate) where the carvers of Sakiwa’s compound have been instrumental in keeping alive this form of carving, and in Agaie (Bida Emirate) whose carvers operate largely in the Sakiwa tradition. The doors are carved in two, three, four or five separate panels, depending on the size of the door frame and the thickness of available trees. In all cases the background is plain, with the highly stylized forms carved in high-relief. The objects represented fall into five categories: articles made by the carvers, such as canoe paddles, spoons, shoes and Muslim writing boards; common household objects, including fans, smoking pipes, padlocks, keys, weapons such as bows and arrows, guns, sheathed and unsheathed knives and matchets, and the carvers’ own tools, the axe, adze, and small knife.; symbols; animals; and man. …Animals represented are Fulani cows, turtles, horses, snakes, chameleons, dogs, duikers, snails, lizards, a variety of birds (some resembling the ostrich), including a strange, double-headed and four-legged bird of no apparent significance. The highly stylized representation of a man seems a recent innovation, not evident on older doors." The wear on the present lot and the absence of a human figure suggests an early date for this door. 243 cm. high Literature Stoll, M. and G., "Galerie Schwarz-Weiss", Munich, 1986, no.17.