West Africa, Nigeria, Yoruba people, ca. 19th century CE. A fantastic ritualistic staff made from forged iron and wood known as an Orisa Oko to ensure successful harvests. This hefty piece has a flat iron panel with a tapered tip that forms the lower half of the staff. The iron surface is beautifully incised with different linear and geometric motifs on both faces. The top of this panel has a short, tubular neck that is wrapped with an additional thin iron band, and a rectangular plate is forged in the center with a deeply etched cross or "+" shape. Another short neck supports another iron piece that widens to become a socket for securing the wooden finial. The socket and the wood finial are studded with rows of iron rivets. The rest of the wood is wrapped with an iron band, and then capped with a conical, pointed tip. Such staffs were symbols of prestige and carried by female elders during fertility rituals to ensure a good harvest by praying to the agricultural gods known as Oko. Blacksmiths crafted these staffs using iron and wood from old agricultural tools that that had reaped fruitful harvests in the past to grant luck to the staff! When not in use, the staffs were placed on the Oko’s shrine. This staff includes both feminine and masculine energy which is expressed through the "+" symbol on the center and the somewhat phallic shape of the finial. An interesting piece with intriguing symbolic meaning! Size: 2.75" W x 59" H (7 cm x 149.9 cm); 60" H (152.4 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection; ex-Eric Robertson collection, New York, USA

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#162670

Missing one rivet along mid section. Wrapped metal band above iron panel is slightly loose. Stable pressure fissures on wood. Russet patina on metal.