Yorùbá
Ifa Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifa)
Yoruba, 1900-1932
Scroll
Yorùbá
Ifa Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifa)
Yoruba, 1900-1932
Physical Qualities
Ivory, 12 in. (30.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number
1954.145.39
Delicately knocking this tapper on a sculpted divination board, an Ifa divination specialist called the attention of the spiritual world. The fine material—a smooth, polished ivory—suggests that the owner was successful in helping his clients resolve problems and receive advice for the future. The woman depicted in the center sits in a restful posture, yet her eyes are open wide and her feet are poised for action, much like a supplicant asking for advice from the orisas, the gods of the Yoruba pantheon.
Wurtzburger Traveling
African Reinstallation
K. R. Greenfield, 'The Museum: Its First Half Century,' 'Annual I,' BMA, 1966, ill. p. 78. Frederick Lamp, 'African Art at The Baltimore Museum of Art,' 'African Arts,' vol. XVII, no. 1, Nov. 1983.
Frederick Lamp, 'Baltimore's African Art Collection,' 'Topic' (USIF), no. 155, pp. 30-36, ill. p. 35.
Frederick John Lamp, "See the Music Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art." New York: Prestel, 2003, p.109, ill.
K. R. Greenfield, 'The Museum: Its First Half Century,' 'Annual I,' BMA, 1966, ill. p. 78.
Thompson, Robert F., "Black gods and kings: Yoruba art at UCLA," Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976, c1971, ch. 3&5.
Thompson, Robert F., "Black gods and kings: Yoruba art at UCLA," Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976, c1971, ch. 3&5.
