Collections Database

Label Text:
Tappers are used by diviners to strike the opon, the divination tray, at the beginning of every divination session. The sound produced in this process is believed to summon Orunmila, deity of wisdom and foresight, and Eshu, the orisa who mediates and travels between human and divine worlds, and the ori-inu, the prenatal destiny of the client who awaits answers to questions posed to the Ifa priest. This fine example shows a figure with an elaborate headdress astride a horse and holding a divination object, which surmounts the bladelike instrument.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1999.3

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.