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)
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.
Rights
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Technical Details

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

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Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:2001-SL-2.45:2001_2.45.JPG

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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 March 28, 2024.
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