Herbalist's staff (Opa Osanyin)

Label TextSixteen smaller birds are listening to a senior bird who teaches about the forest's resources. This staff signals devotion to Osanyin, the god of medicines, who encourages recognition of the therapeutic powers of various leaves and the power of inquiry and thought. Osanyin priests are known to be skilled at treating physical and mental disorders.

Object number81.17.601

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 60, 62, reproduced pl. 79 (as "osanyin" rod). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Bird Sanctuary, August 17, 1995 - February 11, 1996Published ReferencesBlackmun Visona, Monica; Poyner, Robin, Cole, Herbert M., A History of Art of Africa, 2008, pp. 249

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions25 1/16 in. (63.7 cm) Diam.: 7 in.

MediumIron