Carved 'Adjella Ifa' (Ifa ritual bowl), in the form of a woman - carrying a child on her back - kneeling, and offering the bowl in respect to Ifa, the god of divination. The (detachable) lid of the bowl is in the form of a hen. Palm nuts used by Yoruba diviners are stored in the bowl. Yoruba people, Nigeria, 1880-1920
An adjella ifa, a bowl to store the palm nuts used by diviners of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. This particular object is shaped in the form of a woman carrying a child, kneeling in respect to Ifa, the god of divination. The diviner seeks information from Ifa to help answer questions about an illness.
Details
- Category:
- Ethnography and Folk Medicine
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A123603
- Materials:
- wood
- type:
- ritual object and divination bowl
- credit:
- Addison, W.