Ritual staff "opa osanyin" ·  Nigeria, Yoruba · ID: 3040480

Description

iron, handle with stylized rider, surmounted by a big bird in the centre, surrounded by 16 smaller ones, min. dam., traces of corrosion, acrylic base;
both, herbalist and diviner of the Yoruba use wrought-iron staffs to struggle against witchcraft, the magic source of human pathology. But while the emblem of the diviner is a staff with bells surmounted by one or two iron birds on a disk, herbalists use staffs normally without bells or discs, but elaborately decorated with various birds, like the one offered here.

Comparing literature

Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, p. 252