Mortar "odu" · Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3037451
sold
EUR 400
Size
H: 33 cm
H: 13.0 inch
Description
heavy wood, brown patina, black paint, kaolin, indigo blue pigment, cylindrical wooden block, hollowed underside, the front side carved with the figure of “eshu”, emblems and figures on either side: leopard, turtle and snake, slightly dam., minor missing parts, cracks;
inverted mortar of the type used to pound yam. Serving as support for calabashs containing the prehistoric stone axes “edun ara”, which “orisha shango” used to throw against those who displeased him.
Comparing literature
Drewal, Henry John & John Pemberton, Yoruba, New York 1989, p. 144