Yoruba Shango Staff, Ketu/Ohori Area, Nigeria

oshe shango
height 19 1/2in (49.5cm)

Provenance
Pace Primitive and Ancient Art, New York
Aguedo Hernandez Herrero Collection, Mexico City, acquired from the above in 1989
Thence by descent

Published
Holcombe, Bryce (ed.), Yoruba - Sculpture of West Africa, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1982, pl. 33
Borgatti, Jean and Richard Brilliant, Likeness and Beyond - Portraits from Africa and the World, Museum for African Art, New York, 1990, p. 100

"This beautifully carved oshe shango from the Ketu or Ohori Yoruba of southwestern Yorubaland, on the border of the People's Republic of Benin (Dahomey)," notes John Pemberton, "is a splendid example of carving in this region. The especially elaborate openwork thunderax balanced on the devotee's head is carved with draped strands of beads. Bracelets are carved on the devotee's wrists, and there is a decorative pattern carved upon the pedestal. Traces of indigo blue are in the hair of the devotee and stain her wrapper. At the time of its ritual use, the entire oshe would have been painted with red camwood, osun, and decorative touches of white chalk, efun, and indigo dye." (Holcombe, Bryce (ed.), Yoruba - Sculpture of West Africa, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1982, p. 118)