Lot 223: Sold for £40 hammer
A Maritime and Militaria Auction to include Antiques & Collectables,
Thursday 12th September 2024
A pair of African Tribal 'Eden Staffs' of Ogbomi Secret Society type, Yoruba, Nigeria, the male and female copper alloy figures both kneeling and linked by an iron chain, both raised on an iron rod, male figure 28cm high.
Among the Yoruba, in southwestern Nigeria, there is the Ogboni secret society, which exerts an influence over the social and religious life of men (even today) in the dispensation of justice, healing, prophesying, etc, when a new member (man or woman) joins the Ogboni society, he or she receives a pair of ‘Edan staffs’, each pair consists of a man and a woman linked at the top of the head by means of an iron chain threaded through eyelets on their heads, during meetings of the Ogboni secret society, these figural metal staffs are worn around the necks of the participants, serving as ‘proof of membership’.