Fine carved oracle board "opon ifa" with tapper "iroke ifa"
Gert Stoll, Berchtesgaden, Germany
Ulrich Klever, St. Georgen, Germany
Lempertz, Brussels, 25 April 2009, lot 149
After studying zoology, following World War II U. Klever became a journalist working in Hamburg from 1953-1963. He began collecting African art after meeting the dealer Boris Kegel-Konietzko. He is the author of the standard work “Bruckmann’s Handbuch der Afrikanischen Kunst”, Munich, 1975.
Description
wood, old collection number “178-395” and inscription “Ifa Orakelbrett Ife Nigeria”
The “ifa” trays always show a mask face at the rim, associated with “eshu”, who is looked upon as messenger of the deities, and who could not be ignored when asking the oracle. The “ifa” figures, lateron used for soothsaying, were marked with wood flour “iyerosun” (produced by termites) spread on the tray.