Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifá)
Arts of Africa
ART OF THE BODY
These five artworks from throughout Africa display the range of approaches artists have taken to figural representation. They prove that the Western tradition of naturalism—depicting the body precisely as observed in life—is not even remotely the only possibility open to an artist.
The Mossi mask celebrates the female form. While it is not an exact replica of the body, the proportions are relatively balanced.
The Yoruba tapper, used with a board to draw images during divinations, was carved with more exaggerated proportions, owing to both the shape of the ivory from which it was carved and the functional requirements of the object.
The Fang figure has primarily been reduced to a series of cylinders and circles. The legs and hips are conceived as the intersection of two perpendicular cylinders, echoing the cylindrical reliquary box on which the figure sat.
The small Nsapo-Nsapo work and the Salampasu figure take the abstraction of the human form even further by greatly exaggerating the proportions. The Nsapo-Nsapo figure’s thin, extended arms and the Salampasu sculpture’s outthrust chest and flexed shoulders suggest different emotional states for these two protective figures—a tense anxiety, perhaps, in one and a tense readiness in the other.
These five artworks from throughout Africa display the range of approaches artists have taken to figural representation. They prove that the Western tradition of naturalism—depicting the body precisely as observed in life—is not even remotely the only possibility open to an artist.
The Mossi mask celebrates the female form. While it is not an exact replica of the body, the proportions are relatively balanced.
The Yoruba tapper, used with a board to draw images during divinations, was carved with more exaggerated proportions, owing to both the shape of the ivory from which it was carved and the functional requirements of the object.
The Fang figure has primarily been reduced to a series of cylinders and circles. The legs and hips are conceived as the intersection of two perpendicular cylinders, echoing the cylindrical reliquary box on which the figure sat.
The small Nsapo-Nsapo work and the Salampasu figure take the abstraction of the human form even further by greatly exaggerating the proportions. The Nsapo-Nsapo figure’s thin, extended arms and the Salampasu sculpture’s outthrust chest and flexed shoulders suggest different emotional states for these two protective figures—a tense anxiety, perhaps, in one and a tense readiness in the other.
CULTURE
Yorùbá
MEDIUM
Ivory
DATES
18th century (possibly)
DIMENSIONS
13 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (33 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of Africa
ACCESSION NUMBER
2011.4.1
CREDIT LINE
Collection of Beatrice Riese
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Ivory staff. Upper half carved in the form of a kneeling nude woman wearing only a beaded waist band, a beaded necklace with triangular amulets in the front and back, and an elaborate coiffure. The woman holds a fan in her hands. Her face has a lip labret and three scarification marks on each cheek. The pupil of the left eye has an iron (?) inlay. The inlay of the right eye has been lost leaving behind black residue in its place. The lower pointed end of the staff is circumscribed with shallow narrow lines between bands of cross hatching. Condition: Overall condition excellent, numerous hairline cracks in surface.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Yorùbá. Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifá), 18th century (possibly). Ivory, 13 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (33 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Collection of Beatrice Riese, 2011.4.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2011.4.1_SL3_edited.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2011.4.1_SL3_edited.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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