Tribal Art

African art and Yoruba statuary.

This divination cup consisting of five compartments, including a circular in the centre, is reserved for the Ifa divination cult, created by the Oyo of Nigeria and in connection with the societies Egungun and Sango.
It contained the divination material of the Ifa priest, including kola nuts. Allegorical sculptures embossed around its lid and on its base are scenes that depict priests or followers of Shango, the god of thunder.
Some brandish dance sticks, oshe shango, and fly-hunters, royal emblems, others present an offering box. The god Eshu , a deity mainly linked to communication, messenger between men and spirits and whose phallic headdress is recognizable, is also included.
From this orisha, one of the gods of the Yoruba pantheon and which could find its equivalence among the Christian Saints, depends indeed on the protection of the house, the city and, in general, all that is conceived by Man. Recurrent in yoruba statuary, the representation of birds: indeed two small gallinaceans that could be guinea fowl surround the handle of the cup.
These birds could refer to the sacrifices of domestic animals used in African rituals in order to attract the favor of the gods, but also to the sacred powers of women as mothers, who take on this appearance to accomplish certain actions.