Iroke Ifá (Divination Tapper)
Iroke Ifá (Divination Tapper)
Edo - Yoruba
Kingdom of Benin (Edo, State, Nigeria)
Late 19th - Early 20th century
Elephant Tusk
Height: 27,9cm
Width: 3,5cm
Collection Date: 2020
Collection Number: 111
Ex. Max Lewin: Asheville, North Carolina, USA (By Descent: Pre - 2020)
Ex. New York City Gallery
Ex. Marcel Gibrat Collection: New York City, New York, USA : Purchased between 1965 - 1991
The Edo and Yoruba are known for their rich cultural heritage, including a vibrant oral tradition, intricate art and craft, and skilled bronze making. The rattle, called "iroke", would be shaken by the "ifá" or priest, with the point tapped on the a tray to invoke the devine powers, "orunmila," while chanting prayers as part of the ritual ifá Divination. Many of these tappers were carved by the igbesamwan, the guild of royal ivory carvers in Benin City, while others were carved in Owa and nearby neighboring states.
The elephant tusk carved in high relief of a religious figure, a woman kneeling with a snake around the neck holding the snake's head with the right hand while holding a (oshun?) cult sword in the left hand. The base is of cross-hatched design. An orange- red wax exterior coating is present on the relief section, while the outside shows a beautiful old orange patina. Hollowed out on the inside with an iron nail securing an iron pin inside for rattling.
This item was purchased from Max Lewin, who is the curator and grandson of Marcel Gibrat. Marcel worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan as a restorer and later owned a Madison Avenue Restoration Studio and Art Gallery near the Guggenheim Museum. He began purchasing antiquities and tribal art in the early to mid 1960s when most of his collection was purchased and continued as a collector, restorer, and dealer into the better part of three decades later until his passing.
[1] W. O. Oldman, “Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnographic Specimens”, List No. 107 Vol. ix.; Item No. 5 (24255)
[2] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316585
[3] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1947-18-28
[4] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1972-43-1?selectedImageId=1613711684
[5] https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1956-27-217?selectedImageId=1613711395
[6] https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/155899
[7] https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/258312
[8] https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/oracle-tapper-iroke-ifa-with-clapper-nigeria-yoru-97d4802bdb