Yorùbá
Diviner’s Bag
Yoruba, 1900-1994
Scroll
Yorùbá
Diviner’s Bag
Yoruba, 1900-1994
Physical Qualities
Beads, cloth, string, 21 H x 21 W x 2.5 D cm. (bags only); 76 L x 3 D cm. (handle o
Credit Line
Anonymous Gift
Object Number
1999.462
Within Yoruba aesthetics, the substance of beads themselves has the power to give as well as reflect light. Beads 'mediate light, reflecting, deflecting, transmitting and transforming it in the process.' Beaded double bags are worn by diviners to hold the materials of their profession during sessions with clients. This well-worn diviner's bag arranges the illuminating powers of beads into a design that has no beginning or end, symbolizing both the complexity of the divination process and the light shed on a situation by a skilled diviner.
Diviner (babalawo) Kolawole Ositola beginning a divination session. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria. From Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought by Henry John Drewal and John Pemberton III, 1989, p.21.
Meditations on African Art: Light
Bascom, William, "Ifa divination: communication between gods and men in West Africa," Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991, cat no 4a-b.
Drewal, Henry John and John Mason, "Beads, body, and soul: art and light in the Yorùbá universe," Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, c1998, cat nos 35, 36 & 51.
Fagg, William, "Yoruba beadwork: art of Nigeria" New York: Rizzoli, 1980, pp 15-16, 26, 28, 32-35, 39, 49, 56-57, 66-67.
Homberger, Lorenz, ed., "Yoruba art and aesthetics," Zurich: The Center for African Art and the Rietberg Museum, 1991, ill 10.
LaGamma, Alisa, "Art and oracle: African art and rituals of divination," New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, c2000, p 53.
Pemberton, John, ed., "Insight and artistry in African divination," Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000, cat no 1.
Thompson, Robert F., "Black gods and kings: Yoruba art at UCLA," Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976, c1971, ch 8/1-3.
Trowell, Margaret, "African design," London" Faber & Faber Ltd., 1960, p 7.
Christie's, "Tribal art," Amsterdam, Dec. 6, 1999, sale# Tunis-2443, cat no 194.
Drewal, Henry John and John Mason, "Beads, body, and soul: art and light in the Yorùbá universe," Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, c1998, cat nos 35, 36 & 51.
Fagg, William, "Yoruba beadwork: art of Nigeria" New York: Rizzoli, 1980, pp 15-16, 26, 28, 32-35, 39, 49, 56-57, 66-67.
Homberger, Lorenz, ed., "Yoruba art and aesthetics," Zurich: The Center for African Art and the Rietberg Museum, 1991, ill 10.
LaGamma, Alisa, "Art and oracle: African art and rituals of divination," New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, c2000, p 53.
Pemberton, John, ed., "Insight and artistry in African divination," Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000, cat no 1.
Thompson, Robert F., "Black gods and kings: Yoruba art at UCLA," Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976, c1971, ch 8/1-3.
Trowell, Margaret, "African design," London" Faber & Faber Ltd., 1960, p 7.
Christie's, "Tribal art," Amsterdam, Dec. 6, 1999, sale# Tunis-2443, cat no 194.
Inscribed: Donor's label on back: 738.
