The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

1900s

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood

Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); Bag: 21.5 x 19.6 cm (8 7/16 x 7 11/16 in.)

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1995.23

Location

108C Akan & Yoruba

Fun Fact

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.

Provenance
?–1995
(Pace Primitive, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1995–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 23, p. 76 - 77
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.23