Dance staff "oshe shango" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3038229
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 21. September 2002, lot 262
Alfons Bermel, Berlin, Germany
Ratton-Hourdé, Paris, France
Serge Trullu, Nîmes, France
Ratton-Hourdé, Paris, France
Description
wood, matt shiny reddish brown patina, traces of black paint, especially massive and heavy, carved with a janushead, provided with metal tag eyes on one side, the large double axe symbol on either side carved with anthropomorphic faces within the lower edges, slightly dam., cracks, abrasion of paint, base;
“shango” staffs are held during processions and dances in honour of the thunder god. When not in use they are kept in large wooden or calabash bowls in the deity’s shrines, together with the thunderstones “shango” supposedly flings down from the sky,
The object Dance staff “oshe shango” with the object ID 3038229 was last part of the auction 79th Tribal Art Auction at March 21, 2015 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 294.
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Expertise
Ratton Hourdé, Paris, 19 Février 2010
Publications
Eisenhofer, Stefan (Hg.), Kulte, Künstler, Könige in Afrika, Linz 1997, p. 213, ill. III/2.16