Art Institute of Chicago
Pair of Staffs (Edan)
YorubaLinkedCulture matchlcp-ab084a042215
- Date
- 19th century or before
- Medium
- Ivory, iron, and string
- Culture
- Nigeria
- Department
- Arts of Africa
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 155963
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
This pair of intricately sculpted ivory staffs ( edan ) is highly unusual in the corpus of Yoruba art. Typically cast in brass, edan are symbols of membership in the politically powerful Osugbo society. These may have been crafted in ivory for an Osugbo member who was a devotee of the creator god Obatala, who is strongly associated with the color white. Edan commonly depict a man and a woman who are symbolically joined by a chain. Likewise, the flanking birds, possibly woodpeckers, on these staffs evoke pairing. In Yoruba iconography, birds often represent the supernatural powers of women, upon which rulers must rely.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of Michael J. Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
- Provenance
- Robertson African Arts, New York, N.Y., by 1987; sold to Richard J. Faletti (died 2006) and Barbara Faletti (died 2000), Chicago, Ill. and Phoenix, Ariz., 1987; by descent to Michael J. Faletti, by 2000; given to the Art Institute, 2000.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300312158
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