Beaded bag "apo ileke" of an "ifa" priest ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3048871

Description

leather, cardboard, fabric, coloured miniature glass beads, stone beads,

This bag is lavishly decorated with hundreds of tiny glass beads. The central motif is a mask face, probably representing “eshu”.

The diviners “babalawo” (“fathers of secrets”) have to expand their knowledge throughout their lives. As part of their job, they are expected to travel a lot.

On their travels they carry their divination equipment with them. This includes “ikin ifa” (palm nuts) or an “opele ifa” (divining chain), an “opon ifa” (tray), an “iroke ifa” (tapper), a small ivory head symbolic of “eshu-elegba” and a variety of objects (shells, stones, bone, etc.) signifying predictions.

The beaded bags are so much the mark of diviners that they are known as “akapo” - carriers of the bag.

Comparing literature

Drewal, Henry John & John Mason, Beads, Body and Soul, Los Angeles 1998, p. 229