Justus D. Akeredolu (1915-1984), born in Owo, in southwestern Nigeria, was one of the better-known first-generation modern Nigerian artists. Frequently associated with the more influential Akinola Lasekan, with whom he, for a period, shared a studio in Lagos, Akeredolu distinguished himself as an originator of the widely collected miniature tree thorn carvings. In the 1950s, he travelled extensively in Europe through a Nigerian government scholarship, training at the Hammersmith School of Arts & Crafts in London (1951-1953); the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London, where he studied museum technology; and the British Museum where he studied plaster cast restoration (1958). In the course of his career, Akeredolu served as a teacher in several schools in Owo and Lagos, and as a commercial artist with the C. M. S. Bookshops in Lagos. He was a conservator in the Department of Antiquities, and spearheaded the establishment, in 1959, of the Owo Museum on behalf of the National Commission for Museums and Antiquities. http://www.arthouse-ng.com/Download/ArtHouse_Auction_Catalogue_11_May_2015.pdf