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Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)
1900s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
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.
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Details
- Title: Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)
- Date Created: 1900s
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); Bag: 21.5 x 19.6 cm (8 7/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
- Provenance: (Pace Primitive, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Implements
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1995.23
- Medium: Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood
- 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.
- Department: African Art
- Culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
- Credit Line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
- Collection: African Art
- Accession Number: 1995.23
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