id:			159023
accession number:	1995.23
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1995.23
updated:		

Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá), 1900s. Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker. Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood; overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); bag: 21.5 x 19.6 cm (8 7/16 x 7 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1995.23

title:				Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1900s
creation date earliest:		1900
creation date latest:		1930
current location:		108C Akan & Yoruba
creditline:			Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker
technique:	Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Implements
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 49.5 cm (19 1/2 in.); Bag: 21.5 x 19.6 cm (8 7/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	(Pace Primitive, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: ?–1995
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 1995–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
Look closely at the minuscule beads used to make the complex patterns of this multicolored necklace containing two pouches with thin strands that are connected by rope-like cords. A Yoruba diviner would have communicated with the spirit world while wearing this accessory.

digital description:


wall description:
The use of colorful glass beads adds luster to the divination session and underlines the high status diviners enjoy in Yorùbá society. Like kings, diviners derive their authority from the otherworld, òrún. A beaded necklace with two beaded pouches is an accessory carried by the itinerant Yorùbá diviner. Substances sewn into the miniature bags protect the diviner and ensure his power.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Petridis, Constantijn. <em>South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. </em>Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
	page number: 	Reproduced: cat. 23, p. 76 - 77
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.23/1995.23_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.23/1995.23_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1995.23/1995.23_full.tif