Cleveland Museum of Art

Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)

Date

1900s

Medium

Cloth, glass beads, cardboard, cotton, probably wool, and wood

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Yorùbá-style maker

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The use of colorful glass beads adds luster to the divination session and underlines the high status diviners enjoy in Yorùbá society. Like kings, diviners derive their authority from the otherworld, òrún. A beaded necklace with two beaded pouches is an accessory carried by the itinerant Yorùbá diviner. Substances sewn into the miniature bags protect the diviner and ensure his power. Look closely at the minuscule beads used to make the complex patterns of this multicolored necklace containing two pouches with thin strands that are connected by rope-like cords. A Yoruba diviner would have communicated with the spirit world while wearing this accessory.

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