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.

The object Ritual staff “opa osanyin” with the object ID 3040480 was last part of the auction 83rd Tribal Art Auction at May 28, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 311.

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Comparing literature

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