Yoruba Altar Emblem, Nigeria

together with a beaded sheath and cap (the cap not illustrated).

Pace Galleries, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Sagerman, Short Hills, New Jersey, acquired from the above in 1985
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 2010

The Yoruba employed large ceremonial sword-form metal staves as altar-emblems of the argricultural deity Oko.  Pemberton (in Fagg 1980: 46) notes: "The shining metal staff, Opa orisha Oko, the emblem of the deity of the farm, Oko, is forged from the hoes taken to the blacksmith in Irawo in northwest Yorubaland, who alone may make them.  They are 'owned' by a male elder of the compound, but the rituals for orisha Oko are performed by a priestess, who is a daughter of the house.  She is known as the 'wife', iyawo, of orisha Oko.  [...]  The 'face' of the deity is in the small square area in the center of the staff.  It usually depicts eyes and scarification marks and always has a central cross mark, which is referred to as 'the crossroads', orita. [...] The staffs of orisha Oko are clothed, ewu, in beaded sheaths, when they are not the object of ritual attention."  

The present richly-beaded example is preserved as a complete ensemble of staff, sheath and covering, a rare survival of the components together.  For a photograph of Orisha Oko priestesses flanking a comparable staff emblem at Ila Orangun, see Fagg (1980: 25).