Image Not Available

Divination tray (Opon Ifa)

Label TextIn the presence of a diviner, a tray becomes a window of spiritual insights and practical solutions. Anxious clients can see the face of Esu, the divine and troublesome mediator, at the top. Wood dust is spread on the central circle, where the diviner will mark signs of the divine messages he is called upon to recite.

Object number81.17.623

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. 154, 156, reproduced pl. 194 (as "ifa" tray).

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm) Diam.: 16 in.

MediumWood