two yoruba brass staffs, edan ogboni, and a figure, onile

Details

two yoruba brass staffs, edan ogboni, and a figure, onile
One staff cast as a figure holding a flywhisk over the shoulder, cast ornament about the body, looped coiffure; the other cast as a mask with four spirals to each side; the figure kneeling with hands on the breasts, the conical coiffure with spout at the top
13cm. to 30.5cm. high (3)

Lot Essay

Hans Witte in Earth and the Ancestors: Ogboni Iconography, Amsterdam, 1988, states that the important statues that nobody should see are not the only figures in the Ogboni house. Smaller figures that belong to the Ogboni house are used as messengers. It seems probable that the smaller figures were also used on personal shrines (p.31).

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