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.

The object Beaded bag “apo ileke” of an “ifa” priest with the object ID 3048871 was last part of the auction 98th Auction at March 26, 2022 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 230 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,400.

Here you will find more objects and interesting facts about African art.

Comparing literature

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