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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:00:55 GMT
Oshe Shango Yoruba, Republic of Benin Wood, indigo, bluing, lime, ochre. Fowler Cultural Museum of History On this dance wand, Oshe Shango, is an image of a kneeling female balancing on her head the double headed ax, representing the power of Shango. This wand is carried by the devotees of the orisha (god) Shango, the thunder god, at the yearly festival for their god and at other ritual festivals. It is one's ori , representing both their head and personal destiny, to carry the great power of Shango upon their head.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:09:03 GMT
A rare early C20th image of Yoruba women dyers with their clay dye pots. Vintage postcard, circa 1910, authors collection. Indigo was the foundation of numerous textile traditions throughout West Africa. For centuries before the introduction of synthetic dyes the ability to transform everyday white cotton into prized deep blue cloth was a mysterious and highly valuable skill passed on by specialist dyers from generation to generation. From the Tuareg nomads of the Sahara to the grassland kingdoms of Cameroon, indigo cloth signified wealth, abundance and fertility. Appropriately it was women who dyed cloth with indigo in most areas, with the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Manding of Mali (especially the Soninke /Malinke) particularly well known for their expertise. Yoruba dyers paid tribute to a patron deity, Iya Mapo to ensure the success of the complex dye process.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:10:15 GMT
Obalufon
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:12:10 GMT
Entrance to the " Afin " or residence of the Alafin of Oyo, showing typical Yoruba thatching
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:12:47 GMT
Male figure, Yoruba peoples, Nigeria, Date unknown, Terracotta The Oshugbo or Ogboni society consists of the oldest and wisest men and women in a community. They settle disputes and balance the power of the king. This figure depicts a titled male elder. He wears the ritual sash over his left shoulder and the beads of office around his neck. His feathered and beaded headdress and seated pose may signify the special role of the king's representative. This is one of only two published terracotta Oshugbo figures; others are copper alloy.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 14:15:12 GMT
Yoruba ram heads. These ram-heads were placed on altars for worship in pre-colonial times as a form of ancestor worship. Ram heads were also associated with Shango/Jakuta worship.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:42:26 GMT
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:44:33 GMT
Beadwork often has a royal connotation. This is a late 19th Century robe of the Deji of Akure. The materials used are velvet and beads.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:46:40 GMT
The Alake of Abeokuta on a visit to London, 1904. Beaded slippers. The Alake, president of the council of chiefs, or ruling chief, photographed on his visit to Britain in 1904. The chief was a man of great intelligence, eager to study western civilization, and an ardent agriculturist, and his visit elicited considerable public interest.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:48:49 GMT
Nigeria; Yoruba (Ife) peoples
Obalufon mask
Copper
H. 29.5 cm (11 5/8")
National Museum, Lagos, Nigeria
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:50:00 GMT
Nigerian Women's Weaving. Nigerian women used a different type of loom to the man's narrow strip device found throughout West Africa, weaving wider panels of fabric. NW396: Woven by Ijebu Yoruba women in the town of Ijebu-Ode and its surroundings, these extraordinary cloths are used as insignia of office by Ijebu chiefs and members of a society known as Ogboni (which in the past had responsibilities for the worship of the Earth deity and advised the king.) The designs represent various important spirit familiars including frogs, crocodiles etc. This four panel indigo dyed blue and white type, woven from thick hand spun local cotton is very rare. The right hand panel has at some point been cut near the centre and stitched back together, but otherwise condition is excellent. Dates from circa 1900-20.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:51:01 GMT
This classic style of nineteenth century Yoruba aso oke cloth involved the alternation of a simple warp striped strip with a second design in which supplementary weft float motifs are laid out on a fine blue and white checked background. In an early example such as this the magenta silk thread alaari from the trans-Saharan caravan trade is combined with local hand spun indigo dyed cotton. In some cases, as here, there is one different warp striped design to add variety. Although the supplementary weft float motifs are largely based on the Koranic board shape (a wooden rectangle with an arrow head at the top, used by boys at Islamic schools as a writing board) in early examples as here the weaver plays around with variations on the shape.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:51:36 GMT
Agbada is the Yoruba name for a type of flowing wide sleeved robe, usually decorated with embroidery, which is worn throughout much of Nigeria by important men, such as kings and chiefs, and on ceremonial occasions like weddings and funerals. The Hausa name for the robes is riga. Although today they are often still made from hand-woven cloth, the painstaking and beautiful hand embroidery that was used in the past is very rarely seen. Fine old robes have become family heirlooms passed on from father to son and worn with pride at major celebrations. In the past prestige robes were traded over vast distances and similar or related garments are found throughout much of West Africa.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:55:07 GMT
Aso-oke and the striped female-style wrappers of course had a place on masquerade costumes. The Gelede masquerade of Western Yorubaland, which honors the older women, ancestors and deities known as "mothers" (Iya mi, my mother) of the community utilized these wrappers, as seen in this early 20th Century photograph.
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Post by Shymmex on Dec 5, 2015 15:56:02 GMT
A picture of a royal palace horse in Oyo, Yorubaland (1960).
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