Online catalogue for the 67th tribal art auction

301 Dance staff "oshe shango"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

wood, remains of polychrome paint, round handle, carved with a kneeling female figure carrying a child on her back, flanked by two smaller figures, crowned by a double axe, dam., missing parts through insect caused damage, on base

H: 48,5 cm
H: 19.1 inch

Provenance
Coll. Gayle Hanlon, Frankfurt, Germany

Sold.

302 Janus-headed dance staff "oshe shango"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba, Area of Ijebu

wood, brown patina, round handle, carved with four human heads arranged in pairs, crowned by a stylized double axe, min. dam., cracks, missing parts (base), slight traces of abrasion, on wooden base; such dance staffs were used likewise by men and women during Shango celebrations. Their characteristic feature is the double axe symbol. Shango is associated with fertilizing rain, he is said to be truth-loving and should punish liars and thieves.

H: 28 cm
H: 11 inch

Provenance
Tribal Arts Gallery
Alfred L. Scheinberg, New York, USA

Literature
Eisenhofer, Stefan (Hg.), Kulte, Künstler, Könige in Afrika, Linz 1997, p. 211, ill. III/2.13

Price: 1200 - 2000 €

303 Dance wand "eshu"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

light brown wood, dark brown patina, leather, carved with a kneeling female figure with "eshu" lobe, adorned with strings of cowrie snails and wooden discs, min. dam., slight traces of abrasion; "eshu" staffs in the shape of a pair of male and female are worn by female devotees around the neck. The female sculptures frequently show kneeling women holding their breasts. They were identified as devotees of "eshu" showing a typical sacrificial posture.

H: 34 cm
H: 13.4 inch

Provenance
Coll. Alfred Ries, Wiesbaden, Germany (former ambassador in Liberia)

Sold.

304 Staff "edan eshugbo"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

brass, in shape of a stylized female figure, an old-fashioned labret in her lower lip, plug-shaped projections (ears, forehead, back of the head), metal base; the rod on her head possibly a reference to a pigtail "oshu" that imitates grow at the point where magic substances were rubbed into their scalps during initiation.

H: 19,5 cm
H: 7.7 inch

Literature
Witte, Hans, A Closer Look, Berg en Dal 2004, p. 117

Price: 300 - 600 €

305 Ritual staff "eluku-oro" or "ikuku-oro"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

bronze, cast with three seated figures, the bearded male figure on top smoking a pipe and holding a pair of staffs, the female in the centre with clasped hands, the figure at the bottom holding a platter, the loop fringe retaining six bells, slightly dam., breakage and minor missing parts at the base; according to William Fagg, the "oro society" was a much feared body which among other things served as executioners for the "ogboni", and which held meetings in the bush at which the whirring sound of the bullroarer was heard. Their little-known brass equivalents for the "edan" of the "ogboni" are often even more sumptuous than the "edan".

H: 43 cm
H: 16.9 inch

Provenance
Jochen Winkler, Konstanz, Germany
Helmut Zake, Heidelberg, Germany
Christie' s London, Tribal Art, 1 December, 1982, lot 179

Published in
Bastin, Marie-Louise, Introduction aux arts d' Afrique noire, Arnouville 1984, p. 184, ill. 166

Literature
Dobbelmann, Th.A.H.M., Der Ogboni-Geheimbund, Berg en Dal 1976, p. 53 f.

Sold.

306 Ceremonial staff

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

brass, crowned by a seated male figure with disc-shaped beard and pipe, a burled club in the right and a rifle in the left hand, ornamental body ornaments, snake and bird symbols, traces of corrosion, on base; such staffs were status symbols of high ranked smiths. In the picture language of the Yoruba birds were associated with the power of "mothers", an inner hidden power without which men would not be able to accomplish heavy physical work with hammer and ambos.

H: 141 cm
H: 55.5 inch

Provenance
Jochen Winkler, Konstanz, Germany

Price: 4500 - 9000 €

307 Ritual staff "ogboni"

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

brass and iron, a standing male figure, holding a knife in the right hand and a small anthropomorphic head in the left, eyelet for support backside, on iron spike, cubic base; a knife indicates that the owner of "edan" has a special link with "ogun", the god of iron.

H: 18,5 cm
H: 7.3 inch

Provenance
Helmut Zake, Heidelberg, Germany

Literature
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, München 2009, p. 490

Price: 450 - 900 €

308 Bracelet of "ogboni" society

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

bronze with patina, openwork design, decorated with four human faces, fine concentrical circle ornaments inbetween, flat rims with attached bells, traces of corrosion, small missing parts

H: 11 cm
H: 4.3 inch

Provenance
Jochen Winkler, Konstanz, Germany
Helmut Zake, Heidelberg, Germany

Literature
Dobbelmann, Th.A.H.M., Der Ogboni-Geheimbund, Berg en Dal 1976, ill. 133

Price: 1200 - 2500 €

309 Ankle ring of the "ogboni" society

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba

brass, massive ring, decorated with 4 human faces with "ogboni" crescents on the forehead, 8 small rings for attaching crotals, encrustations with clay, rep. (?), acrylic base

D: 13,5 cm
D: 5.3 inch

Provenance
Mareidi Stoll, Munich, Germany

Published in
Witte, Hans, Earth and the Ancestors: Ogboni Iconography, Amsterdam 1988, ill. 78

Literature
Dobbelmann, Th.A.H.M., Der Ogboni-Geheimbund, Berg en Dal 1976, ill. 136

Price: 3500 - 7000 €

310 Bell "omo" of the "ogboni" society

This object is not available any more.

Nigeria, Yoruba, Ijebu

brass, pyramidal, raised anthropomorphic facial features to the front, loop-shaped handle, complete with clapper, min. dam., slightly deformed at the base, cracks, traces of corrosion

H: 18 cm
H: 7.1 inch

Price: 200 - 400 €