Agere Ifa Divination Cup - Yoruba Culture, Oyo Kingdom, Nigeria - 19th Century

Agere Ifa Divination Cup 
Yoruba culture, Kingdom of Oyo, Nigeria 
19th century 
Wood
H. 13.5 ; L 15.5 cm

Bowl on pedestal with a bird - probably a turtle-dove, its wings folded and incised with fine cross-hatching on the tips. Its beak is short and its eyes are incised with two small circles. 
The bowl has a shallow depression, and its straight edges are decorated with a saw-tooth frieze of alternating solid and incised triangles - reminiscent of the solar motif. 

The agere Ifa bowls were used to store the sixteen ikin Ifa palm nuts used by Babalawo diviners or priests during oracle interrogation rituals. 
They belong to the instruments of divination, which include the opon Ifa divination trays and the iroke Ifa strikers or hammers. 
The finesse and quality of the workmanship of a cup were used to determine the rank of the Ifa diviner. 

Bibliography: 
A similar example is reproduced in Gabriel Massa's Sculptures animalières d'Afrique noire, p.88, fig. 50.

Text and photos © FCP CORIDON

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