Artwork Page for Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

Details / Information for Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

Medium
Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood
Measurements
Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); Bag: 21.5 x 19.6 cm (8 7/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1995.23
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Look closely at the minuscule beads used to make the complex patterns of this multicolored necklace containing two pouches with thin strands that are connected by rope-like cords. A Yoruba diviner would have communicated with the spirit world while wearing this accessory.

Description

The use of colorful glass beads adds luster to the divination session and underlines the high status diviners enjoy in Yorùbá society. Like kings, diviners derive their authority from the otherworld, òrún. A beaded necklace with two beaded pouches is an accessory carried by the itinerant Yorùbá diviner. Substances sewn into the miniature bags protect the diviner and ensure his power.
A necklace features two pouches at either end shaped like half-ovals with white, pinks, and browns in striped and triangular patterns made of miniscule beads. Strands of predominantly pink, blue, and white beads hang down around the pouches. Beaded strands extending from either side of the flat edge of each pouch connect the pouches into a loop. The beaded swaths alternate between white, green-brown, and deep blue separated by cylinders beaded with zigzag and diamond patterns.

Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

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