Diviner's iron, Osanyin opa, Yoruba, Nigeria - Lot 178

Lot n° 178
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Estimation :
450 - 500 EUR
Diviner's iron, Osanyin opa, Yoruba, Nigeria - Lot 178
Diviner's iron, Osanyin opa, Yoruba, Nigeria Late 19th - early 20th century Wrought iron H. 120.5 cm Bibliography : Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art. Selections from the Newark Museum Collection, cat. exp. (Kean University, January 31 - April 18, 2012), 44 pages. *Witte, Hans. "La Quête Du Sens Dans Le Symbolisme Yoruba: Le Cas d'Erinlẹ." Numen, vol. 38, no. 1, 1991. Fixed to the top of a long wrought-iron stick, a figuratively shaped bird seems to watch over mortals with its omniscient gaze. It is said to represent the Osanyin divinity, one of the many Orisha spiritual entities deployed to radiate the greatness and power of Olodumare, supreme god of the Yoruba pantheon. Osanyin is a divinity associated with medicinal herbs, the protector of herbalists and embodied by a messenger bird linking human earth to divine heaven. Considered "he who sees all, like Olodumare", his power is contained in these sculptures, which were placed on altars dedicated to Osanyin and used during ritual healing processes. It would seem that these sticks are also the attributes of the supernatural entity Erinle, a male deity who was transformed in the course of his existence from a bush deity (hunter or herbalist doctor, according to the various mythological accounts) to an aquatic deity. His former life would explain the use of ritual objects such as forged sticks topped with birds, reserved for hunters and healers. In addition to the iconography of Osanyin and Erinle, there is also the powerful symbolism of Ogun, deity of iron, hunting and war, the one who "gives iron weapons and implements that enable humans to survive among the dangers of the bush". Our object stands out for the purity of its composition, moving away from the traditional structure of a large central bird surrounded by several smaller birds, thus concentrating all the spiritual power of Osanyin in the single main figure.
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