Ifa priest's beaded bag "apo ileke Ifa" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3048302

Name: Ifa priest's beaded bag "apo ileke Ifa"
SKU: 3048302
Price: 3200 EUR
Availability: SoldOut

sold EUR 3,200

Provenance

B.C. Holland (1922-1994) Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago
Arte Primitivo, New York, 29 July 2020, Lot 407
Private Collection, Chicago

Size

H: 21,5 cm x 20,5 cm

H: 8.5 inch x 8.1 inch

Description

animal skin, cardboard, fabric, miniature glass beads, base

This bag is lavishly decorated with hundreds of tiny glass beads in beautifully coordinated warm colours. The central motif is a mask face, representing the priest himself or “eshu”, next to it are floral motifs, the edges are trimmed with diamond borders.

Such elaborate bags were the property of the “babalawo” (“father of secrets”) and served to store the utensils needed for divination: sixteen sacred palm nuts “ikin” or divination chain “opele ifa”, a small ivory head “olori ikin” (symbolic of “eshu elegba”), oracle tappers “iroke ifa” and an assortment of shells, bones and stones.

The object Ifa priest’s beaded bag “apo ileke Ifa” with the object ID 3048302 was part of the auction 97th Auction on November 6, 2021. The object with the lot number 263 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,200 with an asking price of EUR 1,500.

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