A FINE YORUBA MORTAR, odo shango, of waisted cylindrical form, carved in high relief with a mask, a leopard attacking a horse, a Shango emblem, a medicine bottle and a priest's bag, dark patina with blued coiffure to mask, hollowed underneath, minor damages, from the northern Igbomina region

Details

A FINE YORUBA MORTAR, odo shango, of waisted cylindrical form, carved in high relief with a mask, a leopard attacking a horse, a Shango emblem, a medicine bottle and a priest's bag, dark patina with blued coiffure to mask, hollowed underneath, minor damages, from the northern Igbomina region
30cm. high

Lot Essay

For reasons which remain obscure the 'mortars' found as Shango altars are never turned the right way up, and indeed are only very roughly hollowed underneath. The motifs with which the mortar is decorated are unquestionably allusions to Shango, for use on a Shango shrine.

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