Yoruba divination tray - Ifá - Yoruba - Togo

Splendid antique divination plateau from West Africa.

Purchased in Togo
Yoruba Tradition
Private family collection

Supports of the ritualist named Babalawo (or Babalao, or Babaaláwo, pronounced Baba-a-láwo), priest of Ifa, in Yoruba language, these platters exist in three forms, including the circular one (opon ribiti) like this example.
Intended for the Ifa, a divination system that represents the teachings of Wisdom.
Babalawo claim to secure the future through their communication with Orunmila. In Yoruba thought, the orishas form a variety of divine spirits controlling natural forces. They are primarily found in Yoruba cosmogony but more broadly in West Africa and in the diasporas of Central and South America. The central part of the plateau, aarin opon, forms a tableau in which the dust from the wood allows the priest-diviner to trace solutions to his client's problem. The outer frieze, where the face of Esu/Elegba (often the eyes), the divine messenger, appears, depicts mythological scenes in relief, the Yoruba conception of life, references to fertility, and so on. During the divination process, to invoke the orishas and accompany his chants, the diviner strikes the plateau with a carved wooden or ivory rattle (iroké).

Twenty-five million Yoruba are spread across Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

Very good overall condition
31 x 27.5 cm

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