The single may be whole
One Ere Ibeji can correspond to one deceased twin and embody a complete ritual relationship. It need not be a fragment of a pair.
Completeness in the market is not the same as completeness in Yoruba practice.
Pairs require proof
Compare wood, height, carving sequence, facial system, surface, wear and ornaments. Genuine companions can differ, but differences should be intelligible within one commission and history.
Judge each figure
A mediocre partner does not improve a powerful sculpture. Collect pairs for what their dialogue reveals, not because the market reflexively rewards symmetry.
A wider reading
Documentation should accompany the visual argument. Record the observation behind pairs require proof, photograph it under neutral light and note the date of the assessment. Compare wood, height, carving sequence, facial system, surface, wear and ornaments. If the interpretation comes from a publication or another specialist, retain the exact reference and wording. Such discipline does not make collecting bureaucratic; it preserves the difference between what the object shows, what someone remembers and what a later observer has proposed.
From observation to judgment
Uncertainty is not an empty conclusion. In the context of A Pair Is Not Always Better Than a Single Figure, it can identify the exact point at which evidence becomes insufficient. One Ere Ibeji can correspond to one deceased twin and embody a complete ritual relationship. Saying ‘possibly,’ ‘related to’ or ‘attributed to the region of’ may describe the state of knowledge more accurately than a confident workshop name. Precision lies in matching the strength of the language to the strength of the evidence, not in producing the narrowest label available.
For the collector, the consequence is concrete. Before allowing the single may be whole to influence price or desire, write down the strongest argument against the preferred interpretation. A mediocre partner does not improve a powerful sculpture. Then decide whether the object would still matter if its most prestigious label disappeared. A figure that remains compelling after that test possesses an independence that a fashionable attribution cannot manufacture.