Dance staff "oshe shango" ·  Nigéria, Yoruba · ID: 3038229

Description

wood, matt shiny reddish brown patina, traces of black paint, especially massive and heavy, carved with a janushead, provided with metal tag eyes on one side, the large double axe symbol on either side carved with anthropomorphic faces within the lower edges, slightly dam., cracks, abrasion of paint, base;
“shango” staffs are held during processions and dances in honour of the thunder god. When not in use they are kept in large wooden or calabash bowls in the deity’s shrines, together with the thunderstones “shango” supposedly flings down from the sky,

Expertise

Ratton Hourdé, Paris, 19 Février 2010

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