Yoruba-Owo Head of a Ram, Nigeria

Rams are important symbols of ancestral presence because of the aggressiveness with which they are known to protect their families, as well as their vigilance and strength. A sculpted ram's head was a component of the altars of high-ranking officials and leaders in the Owo region of Nigeria, as well as in Ishan; the use of this iconography possibly relates to altars in the earlier traditions of Benin, or possibly to a shared earlier ancestral source.

According to Rowland Abiodun, the "motif in osanmasinmi, the ram head, may also take the form of a combination of the human head (as is the case in the Ojomo's palace). The Olowo, Ojomo, and high-ranking chiefs who head important families in Owo usually own and maintain ojupo (ancestral shrines) which serve as places where those living can communicate with their deceased ancestors on a proper and regular basis, in elaborate ancestral rites during the new yam harvest." (Abiodun in Drewal, Pemberton and Abiodun, eds, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, New York, 1989, p. 112). He continues: "The ram, because of its qualities of alertness and strength, and its ability to fight and defend itself, has become a most effective visual metaphor for the deceased ancestor." (ibid., p. 113).