Tray (Opon Ifa)
Yoruba
1930–1939
- Medium
- Wood and pigment
- Dimensions
- 45.8 × 44.5 × 1.3 cm (18 × 17 1/2 × 1/2 in.)
- Genre
- ritual objects
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
mothersshellsyorubapainting (coating)divinationspiritwood (plant material)medicineafrican Artarts of AfricaCoastal West Africacarvingritual objectsceremonial objectofferingpigment
About
Used by a male or female diviner, this tray features the image of Eshu, the divine mediator between the spirit and human realms. His face is framed by mothers kneeling to make offerings in bowls. A priest holding a staff below one of them refers to Osanyin, the deity of herbal medicine. The carved band of cowrie shells recalls the real shells that are cast onto the tray during a divination session.
