Art Institute of Chicago

Pair of Staffs (Edan)

Yoruba

Date

19th century or before

Medium

Ivory, iron, and string

Culture

Nigeria

Department

Arts of Africa

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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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