Staff for Esu (Ogo Elegba)
1920-75
Esu is a catalyst whose presence as an intermediary of fate can be traced all over the African Atlantic world. Here, he plays a flute, perhaps to announce a message from other gods or using it to blow unexpected sounds in one of his many acts of irreverence. His hair is groomed in a long arc that ends in an elder's face to remind us of his dual nature: erratic and wise.
Possibly ire (rubber tree) and twine
16 13/16 x 3 1/4 x 9 9/16 in. (42.7 x 8.2 x 24.3 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.598
Provenance: {Unknown auction (sale of anonymous collection), Chicago, Illinois}; purchased at auction by Ross Widen, Cleveland, Ohio; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1967; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Photo: Paul Macapia