Ritual staff "edan oshugbo" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3031091

Description

brass, iron, in shape of a squatting female figure with both hands up to the breasts, eyelet for support, fragmentary iron spike, on base;
“ogboni” is a secret society of the Yoruba, also called “oshugbo”. The best known “oshugbo” object is the “edan oshugbo”, a pair of bronze images male/female mounted on iron spikes, linked by an iron chain. These figures belong to individual “oshugbo” members who - after approval by an “oshugbo” official - the “apena” - take them home afer their initiation into the “oshugbo” cult. They are kept on the family shrine and they are danced on special occasions.

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, München 2009, p. 489