DIVINATION CUP agere Ifa

Yoruba Culture, Oyo Kingdom, Nigeria

19th century

Drink

H.: 13.5; L.: 15.5 cm

Cup on pedestal animated with a bird – probably a turtledove, wings folded and incised with fine hatching on the ends. Its beak is short, its eyes incised with two small circles.

The bowl has a shallow hollow, its straight edges are animated by a sawtooth frieze alternating solid and incised triangles – reminiscent of the solar motif.

The agere Ifa cups were used to store the sixteen ikin Ifa palm nuts handled by the Babalawo diviners or priests during oracle questioning rituals.

They belong to the instruments of divination – among which it is possible to cite the opon Ifa divination boards and the iroke Ifa strikers or hammers.

The finesse and quality of treatment of a cup made it possible to determine the rank of the Ifa diviner.

Bibliography:

A similar example is reproduced in the work Animal Sculptures of Black Africa by Gabriel Massa, p.88, fig. 50.

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON

Ref.: 4823