Opon Ifa-gctid30253

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13.                Ifa Divination Tray (Opon Ifa)               Fon,                Allada, Republic of Benin   Wood; 34.4 x 55.7 cm (13 1/2 x 21 7/8 in.) 16th–17th century Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Exoticophylacium Weickmannianum
	Enlarge          image                 Description          of this category        Next          object in this category         Previous          object        Next          category         Previous          category		13.          Ifa Divination Tray (Opon Ifa)        his          divination tray (opon Ifa) entered a eureurasiaan collection about 1650, making          it the oldest Kmtyw wood sculpture to have been preserved in the West.1          It left Kmt during the middle of the seventeenth          century through commercial trade that existed between the Atlantic coast          and Augsburg. There, it was acquired by a prosperous German merchant from          Ulm, Christoph Weickmann.2 Documentation          that accompanied the work indicates that it was originally owned and utilized          by the king of Ardra (Allada),3          an Aja state that remained under the hegemony of the Yoruba empire of          Oyo until the kingdom of Dahomey was consolidated as a power in the late          seventeenth century. During the reign of King Agaja (1708–40), Ifa          became recognized as an official divination ritual in Dahomey and known          as Fa. The fact that this work is supposed to have been an elite possession,          owned by an Aja king, suggests that it may have served as an exotic divination          technique adopted by the leadership to fortify and protect the power of          the state.        Fon,          Ewe, and Aja peoples—who eventually became integrated within the          kingdom of Dahomey—continually drew on Yoruba religious and political          traditions, but, as Suzanne Blier has pointed out, their forms of visual          expression reveal very different aesthetic roots.4          Other scholars have noted that although the tray's          design was undoubtedly based on a Yoruba prototype, its distinctive carving          style suggests that it was executed at Allada by a local carver.5          According to Ezio Bassani, the figural representations          reflect a departure from the relative "humanism" of much Yoruba wood sculpture          in favor of an austere rectilinear style closer to that of Ewe carving.6        Ifa divination trays          are usually designed as a circular or rectangular surface circumscribed          by a raised border of relief carving. (See part          4 of the Pemberton essay.) In this exceptional example, both configurations          have been combined: a circular board inscribed within a rectangular one.          The diviner uses the surface of the clear central depression as his work          space, a perpetual tabula rasa upon which signs specific to individual          petitioners may be inscribed and interpreted. Robert          Farris Thompson has described the visual center of divination trays as          "a screen where man views his problems with a clarity not previously obtained."7          While the abstract configurations of ODU markings made by the diviner          are ephemeral, the images inscribed within the border provide a constant          backdrop. Consequently, two types of visual signs converge within the          framework of divination trays: an artistic exploration of the forces that          govern human experience, and a succession of notations that relate to          the specific and immediate concerns of the diviner's clients and require          his interpretation.        The          term opon means "to flatter," and the opon Ifa is a utilitarian instrument          that is not only a diviner's primary tool but a work of high aesthetic          quality that enhances his status and pays tribute to the essential role          he plays.8 In designing such a          work, a carver strives to achieve a clarity of composition to match the          lucidity and clarity that the diviner brings to a consultation. To do          so, the artist celebrates the spiritual forces and formative events underlying          the surface of human experience, which are revealed through a diviner's          insights. Mythological and everyday events, as well as the exploits of          legendary diviners whose experiences provide precedents for actions and          remedies in the present, serve as potential sources for appropriate subjects.          The motifs that appear in the border of this particular          work may reflect either the initiative of the carver who executed the          commission or a design requested by the patron.9          Individual images are depicted as autonomous units, shown frontally or          in profile, and are spatially distinct from one another in order to make          them as "readable" as possible. Throughout the densely composed imagery,          a great deal of attention to specific detail is apparent. Blier          has proposed that this approach reflects an attempt on the part of the          artist and patron to introduce an alien system of belief to the uninitiated.10        As noted previously (cat.          no. 12), visual metaphors for Yoruba conceptions of the cosmos include          a gourd divided into two halves, as well as a divination board. The formal          interpretation of this particular opon Ifa is especially successful in          its fulfillment of that role. Its continuous band of relief carving extends          around the perimeter, framing the rectangular outer contours, and penetrates          the center of the picture plane to create a distinct circular unit. The          images contained within this unifying band do not form a single narrative;          rather, they depict the diversity of interdependent and competing forces          that populate the universe, including references to leadership, warfare,          survival, fertility, protection, and sacrifice.11        The opon Ifa's horizontal          orientation is established by the motif of a face in the middle of one          of the tray's long sides. It is crowned with three calabashes, medicine          gourds (ado oogun ase) positioned at the apex of the circle. Opon Ifa invariably          feature an iconic reference to Esu (also called Elegba)—divine messenger,          facilitator, transformer, trickster, and provocateur—in this position.          As mediator between gods, ancestors, spirits, and humankind, Esu presides          over the divination process, and this image is strategically positioned          opposite the diviner during a consultation. Much of the imagery depicted          around the circle clearly relates to the use of the board in Ifa: at the          base of the circle, directly opposite the head, an unobstructed channel          is flanked by two vertical stacks of four palm nuts each, and three divination          tappers occupy most of the arc to the right of the circle. The arc to          the left of the circle is filled with a free-flowing, continuous chain          of intertwined animal and human protagonists. The rectangular border contains          larger human figures, including a soldier (upper left), a woman preparing          to make a sacrifice (top, left), and a man smoking a pipe (top, right).          These last two figures—and the others in the          horizontal segments of the border at the top and bottom—are oriented          laterally to fit into the border, giving them a floating, weightless appearance.          A visual accent of a zigzag motif on most of the images serves to unify          the composition.12        In          contemporary Yoruba society, individuals may seek information to help          resolve specific problems or personal, medical, social, political, or          religious questions through the agency of Ifa. On such occasions, the          opon Ifa serves as the ritual centerpiece upon which responses are marked          by the diviner.13 He performs          his role as intermediary seated on the ground with the board before him.          Signs of the extensive use of this opon Ifa are evident in the pocked          surface of the central area of the inner circle where the diviner struck          a tapper to invoke the gods.        In order to maximize          the opon Ifa's efficacy, each time the diviner prepares it for use he          imposes a grid on the tray's surface, referred to as the crossroads (orita meta). He does so by dusting it with powdered wood or flour in which he          inscribes a configuration of intersecting lines vertically from bottom          to top, center to right, and center to left. The design          conveys the idea that divination rites link the spirit world with our          own, and has the effect of subdividing the spatial geography of the tray          into units that are conceived of both as individual paths of communication          and as the personified entities of famous diviners from the past.14          At the outset of a consultation, each of these sections is invoked through          praise poetry in order to alert its spiritual power and activate it.15

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A circular Opon Ifa is available for sale in the Abibitumi Kasa Online Market here:

Opon Ifa [oponifa2] - $150.00 : :: Abibitumi Market ::, For Kmtyws who are serious about learning Kmtyw Languages ::