Esie Museum

The soapstone figures at Esie number over a thousand, seated and standing human forms between a few centimetres and about a metre tall, carved with detailed hairstyles, beads, weapons and facial marks, and they were found in a grove at Esie by the local community, who venerated them as ancestors turned to stone and made annual offerings. Who carved them, when and why is not settled: estimates run from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, and the style does not match neighbouring traditions. The museum built to house them in 1945 was the first in Nigeria. A fire in the 1970s damaged part of the collection. The annual Esie festival still marks the figures.

What you actually see

• The soapstone figures - the seated and standing carved human forms.
• Detail on the carvings - hairstyles, beads, weapons and facial marks.
• The 1945 museum - the first museum building established in Nigeria.
• The unresolved question - the unknown origin the displays discuss.

When to go

November to March in the dry season. The Esie festival, usually in April, involves the community's observances at the site. Weekday mornings are most reliable for opening.

Honest expectations

The museum is small, dated and has suffered from underfunding; some figures are damaged. Opening hours can be irregular. Interpretation is limited. Esie is a long drive from Ilorin on indifferent roads.

Nearby

Ilorin lies northwest; Owu falls are north.