Ifa divination head "olori(n) ifa" or "ikin ifa" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3048771

Description

ivory, base

“Ifa” priests use sixteen sacred palm nuts for their divinations. Many of them have a seventeenth nut called “olori(n) ikin” (“chief of the palm nuts”). It is often replaced by such a small human head made of ivory (or bone).

Usually it is believed that the heads represent “eshu”, but they are more likely to allude to “orunmila”, the supreme deity of the “ifa” oracle.

The object Ifa divination head “olori(n) ifa” or “ikin ifa” with the object ID 3048771 was last part of the auction 99th Auction at November 12, 2022 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 278 achieved a sales price of EUR 750.

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Expertise

Expertise, Matthias Streckfuß, Berlin, 20 July 2022 (No 2139-07-2022)

Notices

This object is subject to CITES. Please note that it can only be sent within the European Union. At the present time export in third countries is prohibited, respectively, export licenses in third countries for objects containing or made of protected materials are only granted under stringent conditions.