Duende Art Projects

Technique: Anonymous Yoruba artist Nigeria, Late 19th century Wood. 33 cm Provenance La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California, USA Arte Primitivo, New York, 6 May 2013, lot 424. Luc Sanders collection, Belgium Jo de Buck, Brussels, Belgium, 2022 Duende Art Projects, Antwerp, Belgium, 2022

Authenticity: Certificate provided

Edition: Unique work

Yoruba Divination Tray

A wooden tray (opon ifa) is the key instrument used by Yoruba priests (babalawo) in the complex divination rituals, whose purpose is to make decisions and seek solutions to major problems with the help of the ancestors and gods. Round in shape and carved with a prominent face to the top of the outer rim that represents Eshu, the messenger deity who acts as a medium between the human and spirit realms. This face is sculpted in the typical Yoruba style, with bulgy diamond-shaped eyes with pierced irises, flared nostrils, three vertical scars on forehead and each cheek, and the lower lip pierced with a lipplug – a clear marker the present board dates from the 19th century. The edge of the board is decorated with four sacred knots. On both sides we find another representation of Ifa, as a standing figure with his identifying cap. A snake appears to emerge from the mouth of both figures. The Yoruba did consider the snake as a messenger of the gods that would be consulted during divination sessions. At the lower bottom of the rim we find a mudfish, both a mythical and real creature to the Yoruba seen its ability to navigate between two realms (water and land), just as Eshu acts as a medium between the human and spirit realms. The center of the board is left undecorated as the priest would use this area during the divination sessions, as can be observed by the clear signs of age and ritual use of the area of the tray. The priest would place powder on the tray and divided it into several sections. He then praised and honored the gods before asking specific questions and casting nuts across the tray to seek answers.