Lot 303 Dα

Cf. Homberger, L. (Ed.), "Yoruba Art and Aesthetics", Zurich, 1991, p.62, fig.75, for a staff with an almost identical figure in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Berlin, acquired from Oldman in 1909. The author states: "The design and skill with which this staff was created reveals the artistic achievement of a nineteenth century blacksmith in Abeokuta. The staff would be carried by a high ranking blacksmith as a sign of his office. The seated male figure holds with his left hand (the ritually significant side) a stylized prod, an instrument used to stir burning coals as the blacksmith heats the metal to be forged by his hammer. A knife is suspended from his belt. With his right hand he gestures towards his beard. His head is “crowned” with an elaborate hairstyle. The seated position, gesture and emphasis upon the head symbolize the office and wisdom of the one who carries the staff." Farris Thompson illustrates another staff very close in style ("Black Gods and Kings: Yoruba Art at UCLA", Los Angeles, 1971, ch.7, fig.10) and relates that the name for such staffs is "Iwana Ogun".