Divining bell

Museum number:
5-15497
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050015497
Alternate number:
B-2119 (previous number (Bascom’s number))
Accession number:
Acc.4529
Description:
divining bell, ivory, handcarved; seated female human figure with shield at loins; concentric transverse rings incised on tubular body of bell; bell cracked and head and left breast broken off; H 13.6 cm X Dia (bell) 3.6 cm.
Donor:
Berta Bascom
Collection place:
Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria
Verbatim coll. place:
Africa; Nigeria; Yoruba; Oyo
Culture or time period:
Yoruba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
unknown
Materials:
Ivory (material)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works)
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
diameter 3.6 centimeters and height 13.6 centimeters
Comment:
Slide. PAHMA Storage Loc: W-12-1
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 2 titled Divining bell, accession number 5-15497, described as divining bell, ivory, handcarved; seated female human figure with shield at loins; concentric transverse rings incised on tubular body of bell; bell cracked and head and left breast broken off; H 13.6 cm X Dia (bell) 3.6 cm.Hearst Museum object 2 of 2 titled Divining bell, accession number 5-15497, described as divining bell, ivory, handcarved; seated female human figure with shield at loins; concentric transverse rings incised on tubular body of bell; bell cracked and head and left breast broken off; H 13.6 cm X Dia (bell) 3.6 cm.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Divining bell, accession number 5-15497, described as divining bell, ivory, handcarved; seated female human figure with shield at loins; concentric transverse rings incised on tubular body of bell; bell cracked and head and left breast broken off; H 13.6 cm X Dia (bell) 3.6 cm.

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