agere Ifa (divination cup)

unrecorded Yoruba artist, artist

agere Ifa (divination cup), late 1800s–1982

Where object was made: Nigeria

Material/technique: wood; carving

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 29.5 x 14.5 x 20.5 cm
Object Height/Width/Length (Height x Width x Length): 11 5/8 x 5 11/16 x 8 1/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Larry W. Welling

Accession number: 2007.3120

Not on display

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Label texts

Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures

Associated with liminal places like crossroads and thresholds, the Yoruba orisha (deity) Eshu mediates between the mortal and divine realms. Because of his ability to permeate these boundaries, individuals worship carved representations of Eshu with the hope of gaining favor in the Other World. Figures like this one, which retains its long, heavy strands of beaded shells, would have been suspended on a chain or rope and worn over a worshipper’s shoulder during certain rituals and celebrations; when not in use, it would have been lovingly maintained in a personal shrine. Often maligned as a trickster, Eshu is also closely linked with Ifa, the Yoruba god of divination. By manipulating palm nuts in a special cup, a diviner convenes with Ifa to resolve physical ailments and personal quandaries believed to be caused by spirits of the Other World.

Exhibition Label:
"Roots and Journeys: Encountering Global Arts and Cultures," Jun-2013, Cassandra Mesick
Associated with liminal places like crossroads and thresholds, the Yoruba orisha (deity) Eshu mediates between the mortal and divine realms. Because of his ability to permeate these boundaries, individuals worship carved representations of Eshu with the hope of gaining favor in the Other World. Figures like this one, which retains its long, heavy strands of beaded shells, would have been suspended on a chain or rope and worn over a worshipper’s shoulder during certain rituals and celebrations; when not in use, it would have been lovingly maintained in a personal shrine. Often maligned as a trickster, Eshu is also closely linked with Ifa, the Yoruba god of divination. By manipulating palm nuts in a special cup, a diviner convenes with Ifa to resolve physical ailments and personal quandaries believed to be caused by spirits of the Other World.

Exhibition Label:
"For Life's Sake: Arts from Africa," Oct-1983, Reinhild Kauenhoven Janzen
Ifa is the Yoruba god of divination. Through divination man learns if he is following the proper god; it helps him have confidence in his decisions. When children fall ill, when unexplainable bad luck continues, the diviner will be consulted. He is called "babala wo" --Father-of-Ancient-Wisdom. During divination sessions he manipulates a set of 16 palm nuts and displays them in such a figured divination cup. In Yoruba culture a horseman represents status and power, so this image of high rank lends prestige to this cup and its owner. This would dispose clients favorably towards the diviner, just as patients in North American clinics are impressed with medical school diplomas on the doctor's office walls or with the furnishings of the waiting room.