Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination

LaGamma, Alisa, with an essay by John Pemberton III

2000

80 pages

55 illustrations

This title is out of print.

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Table of contents

About the authors

Praise

Acknowledgments

Director's Foreword
Philippe de Montebello

Introduction
Alisa LaGamma

Map of Sub-Saharan Africa
John Pemberton III

Catalogue

Oracular Sculpture: Figurative Divination Instruments

Visual Metaphors: Ifa Divination Instruments

Dynamic Devices: Kinetic Oracles

Visual Commentaries: Sets of Divination Signs

Invoking the Spirits: Musical Devices

Emblems of Enlightenment and Power: Diviners' Insignias

Empowering the Individual: Diviners' Prescriptions

The Iconography of Divination: Monuments of Divine Insight

Checklist of the Exhibition
Bibliography
Photograph Credits

Met Art in Publication

Male Diviner's Figure

19th–mid-20th century

Oracle Figure (Kafigeledjo), Wood, iron, bone, porcupine quills, feathers, commercially woven fiber, organic material, Senufo peoples — Oracle Figure (Kafigeledjo)
19th–mid-20th century

Ifa Divination Vessel: Female Caryatid (Agere Ifa), Ivory, wood or coconut shell inlay, Yoruba peoples, Owo group — Ifa Divination Vessel: Female Caryatid (Agere Ifa)
17th–19th century

Divination Instrument (Galukoji), Wood, bamboo, feathers, fiber, beads, abrus seeds, camwood powder, Pende peoples — Divination Instrument (Galukoji)
20th century

Gong Mallet with Equestrian Figure (Lawle), Wood, cotton, Baule peoples — Gong Mallet with Equestrian Figure (Lawle)
19th–20th century

Diviner's Bag (Apo Ifa), Cotton, beads, leather, Yoruba peoples — Diviner's Bag (Apo Ifa)
20th century

Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkun), Wood, encrustation, quills, feathers, horns, bird skull, Komo or Koma Power Association — Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkun)
19th–mid-20th century

Figure: Janus (Bocio), Wood, bone, metal wire, sacrificial materials, Fon peoples — Figure: Janus (Bocio)
19th–early 20th century

Maternity Figure (Ntekpe), Terracotta, Igbo peoples — Maternity Figure (Ntekpe)
19th–20th century

Citation

Chicago

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APA

LaGamma, Alisa, and John Pemberton. 2000. Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art : Distributed by H.N. Abrams.

Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination

Met Art in Publication

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