Pair of Staffs (Edan)
Yoruba
19th century or before
Medium
Ivory, iron, and string
Dimensions
H.: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Classification
ivory
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
155963
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This pair of intricately sculpted ivory staffs (edan) is highly unusual in the corpus of Yoruba art. Typically cast in brass, edan are symbols of membership in the politically powerful Osugbo society. These may have been crafted in ivory for an Osugbo member who was a devotee of the creator god Obatala, who is strongly associated with the color white. Edan commonly depict a man and a woman who are symbolically joined by a chain. Likewise, the flanking birds, possibly woodpeckers, on these staffs...