Crowned Yoruba chiefs and kings (obas) had the wealth and prerogative to commission works of art.
When he arrived at a village, he would ask the oba to direct him to the local blacksmith or carver.
This quest finds its most popular political expression in the image of the oba, the temporal and spiritual head of a given community and a personification of its corporate existence.
Origin
Yoruba, originally the name of the absolute ruler of the ancient West African kingdom of Benin, now part of Nigeria.