On view
African Art
Ọpọn ìgèdè Ifá (bowl for Ifá divination implements),
before 1923
Àreògún, 1880–1954; active Osí, Èkìtì State, Nigeria
2015-8 a-b
Àreògún, a celebrated Yorùbá artist, carved this bowl to store the implements of a priest of Ifá, the Yorùbá ritual divination system that determines one’s destiny. The bowl is also a manifestation of an òrìṣà (Yorùbá deity) to whom offerings, which encrust the surface of the bowl, must be made. Àreògún subtly underscored the importance of women in Yorùbá life through the bowl’s iconography. The hands of the wives of an Ifá priest support him as he stands atop the head of Èṣù , the deity who assists in the communication between the gods and humans. In this same tableau, a kneeling woman with a child wrapped securely to her back presents an offering bowl to Èṣù. The act of kneeling refers to birth and thus to the position one takes when receiving an orí, the head or soul.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Ọpọn ìgèdè Ifá (bowl for Ifá divination implements)
Dates
before 1923
Maker
Medium
Wood and organic materials
Dimensions
h. 58.4 × diam. 43.2 cm (23 × 17 in.)
Credit Line
Museum acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection, with the support of the Fowler McCormick Fund
Object Number
2015-8 a-b
Place Made
Africa, Nigeria, Èkìtì State, Osi
Materials
Techniques
Peter Loebarth, Hameln, West Germany until 1981; [purchased by Pace Primitive, New York, NY, 1981]; purchased by Holly and David Ross, Princeton, NJ, 1981; purchased by the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ, 2015.
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William Fagg and John Pemberton III, Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa, (New York: Pace Editions, 1982).
, pp. 164–65; pl. 56 - Henry John Drewal et al, Yoruba: nine centuries of African art and thought (New York: Abrams, 1989)., p. 19; pl. 8
- Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African art in American collections, survey 1989 (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), p. 277, pl. 723 (note: the PUAM and St. Louis examples are switched in this publication)
- David Frankel and Robert F. Thompson, Face of the gods: art and altars of Africa and the African Americas (Munich: Prestel, 1993)., p. 311; cat. 5
- Jill Guthrie, ed., In celebration: works of art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 1997)., cat. no. 65
- Babatunde Lawal, Yoruba (Milan: 5 Continents Editions, 2012)., p. 133; pl. 32
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2015," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 75/76 (2016-17): 102-125., p. 116 (illus.)
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Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa (February 20, 1982– March 20, 1982)
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Woven Trains and Beaded Planes: Technology Meets Tradition (October 14, 1992–January 3, 1993)
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Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas (September 22, 1993– January 7, 1994)
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In Celebration: Works of Art from the Collections of Princeton Alumni and Friends of the Art Museum (Saturday, February 22, 1997 - Sunday, June 08, 1997)
