Staff / Artist Unknown, African, Yoruba Peoples Nigeria
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2001/2.45
- Title
- Staff
- Artist Nationality
- Nigerian
- Medium and Support
- wood with beads, metal, cloth
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1950
- Object Creation Place
- Africa (continent)
- Nigeria (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Africa (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Nigeria (nation)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Margaret H. and Albert J. Coudron
- Dimensions
- 113 cm x 17.5 cm x 8.5 cm (44 1/2 in. x 6 7/8 in. x 3 3/8 in.)
- Primary Object Classification
- Costume and Costume Accessory
- Primary Object Type
- staff
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ritual Objects
- Secondary Object Type
- figure
- Physical Description
- Wooden staff covered with beads, displaying a zigzag pattern in blue, white, red, yellow, green and pink along the shaft, with an iron point at the base. The finial (top of the staff) consists of an equestrian, mostly in green, wearing elaborate red-and-yellow headgear, holding a staff and riding a multicolored horse, which stands on a rectangular platform adorned with a veil of ropes of beads.
- Subject Matter
- Among the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, the ownership of completely beaded objects is reserved for kings and other rare indivuals who communicate with the gods; beaded staffs such as this one are associated with rulers and chiefs. The figure of the horserider might himself represent a ruler, too, as indicated by his crown and staff, as well as his possesion of a horse, and the veil suspended from the platform. The platform might be filled with power substances, since beaded are surrogates for their owners and carry the "spirit" of the ruler in his or her absence. The staff can be planted in the ground with its iron tip: the firm, vertical stance of the staff asserts the ruler's power, authority and potential for action.
- Secondary Keywords
- descriptors
- equipment
- equipment by context
- equipment for personal use
- horsemen
- object genres
- object genres by material
- objects
- objects we use
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- people by activity
- sculpture
- sculpture by subject type
- statues
- tools and equipment
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- walking sticks
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 824 x 1488
- File Size
- 88 KB
- Record
- 2001/2.45
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2001-sl-2.45/2001_2.45.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2001-SL-2.45:2001_2.45.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Staff; Artist Unknown, African, Yoruba Peoples Nigeria." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2001-sl-2.45/2001_2.45.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 14, 2024.