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Diviners' Insignias |
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 he works featured in catalogue numbers 29
through 35—carried, wielded, or worn by diviners—provide focal points
for exploring the complex identity of the diviner and his or her exalted
status and important social role. The beaded bag in which Yoruba diviners
carry their divination instruments is an emblematic yet highly personalized
accessory, emblazoned with dynamic graphic designs. Like the ivory used
for making divination tappers and vessels, beads were a costly material
restricted to a privileged elite in Yoruba society; here, they are used
to comment on the diviner's role as a sacred mediator. The power and influence
wielded by individuals who occupy this position in Yombe society are suggested
by the idealized representation of a diviner's mask, whose heightened realism
and meditative expression inspired confidence in the wearer's powers of
perception. A Komo headdress embodies a Bamana diviner's great spiritual
power and mastery of esoteric knowledge through a design composed of a diverse
assemblage of organic matter, evoking the ferocity and power of a wild beast.
The Basinjom masquerade, performed along the Cameroon-Nigeria border, employs
an anti-aesthetic amalgam of carefully selected natural matter that intimidates
viewers, endows omniscience upon the wearer, and dramatically evokes the
arsenal of powers at its command. This emphasis on harnessing the elements
of the natural world and on mastery and knowledge of the properties of its
animal and plant life is also reflected in the abstract beauty and harmonious
design of a necklace once worn by a Barambo diviner. |
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29. Diviner's Bag (Apo Ifa) Yoruba, Nigeria Cloth, beads, leather; 25.4 x 21.6 cm (10 x 8 1/2 in.) 20th century The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Claire and Michael Oliver, 1999 (1999.296) |
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30. Diviner's Staff: Birds (Osun babalawo) Yoruba, Nigeria Iron; H. 115 cm (45 1/4 in.) 19th–20th century Drs. Daniel and Marian Malcolm Collection |
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31. Komo Helmet Mask (Komokunw) Bamana, Mali Wood, quills, tusks, bird skull, organic material; 25.4 x 85 x 23.2 cm (10 x 33 1/2 x 9 1/8 in.) 19th–20th century The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Morton Lipkin, 1961 (1978.412.426) |
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32. Diviner's Mask Yombe, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola Wood, organic material; 22.9 x 16.8 cm (9 x 6 5/8 in.) Early 20th century Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas |
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33. Basinjom Mask and Costume Banyang, Cameroon Mask: wood, feathers, mirrors; costume: cloth, fiber, genet pelt, shells; Mask: 20 x 43 cm (7 7/8 x 16 7/8 in.); costume: 195 cm (76 3/4 in.) 19th–20th century Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden 28.154 |
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34. Necklace Owned by Namandiaro Barambo, Poko, Democratic Republic of the Congo Wood, plant fiber, seedpods, gourd, antelope horn; 47.6 x 41.3 cm (18 3/4 x 16 1/4 in.) 19th century American Museum of Natural History, New York 90.1/3586 |
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35. Ceremonial Adze: Female Heads (Kibiki or Kasolwa) Luba, Democratic Republic of the Congo Wood, metal; H. 34.3 cm (13 1/2 in.) 19th–20th century Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, gift from the Lawrence Gussman Collection of African Art 1999.06.112 |
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