Collections Database

Label Text:
The birds on the staff represent evil forces that cause illness by sapping mental and physical energies from people while they sleep. Working with the healing god Osanyin, the Yoruba herbalist would place images of these spirits, rendered in robust iron, next to ailing patients to exert mastery over the harmful creatures and to promote a return to health.

PR, 2013

Tags:
birds; lines; circles

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2007.29

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.