Dance staff

Museum number:
5-6352
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21050006352
Alternate number:
B-2988 (previous number (Bascom’s number))
Accession number:
Acc.2308
Description:
dance staff; Janus headed figure; head cleft in V-shape; hands held at sides of head; on each side of staff below arms openwork section runs down to handle; center section below head decorated front & back w/ guilloche motif in raised relief; l. 56 cm.; w. 13.2 cm.
Donor:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection place:
Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria
Verbatim coll. place:
Africa; Nigeria; Oyo; Yoruba
Culture or time period:
Yoruba
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1960
Materials:
Wood (plant material)
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies
Accession date:
1967
Context of use:
dance staff for God of Thunder
Department:
Africa (except Ancient Egypt)
Dimensions:
length 56 centimeters and width 13.2 centimeters
Comment:
(Murdock 31:31). Collected 1960. See acc. env. for further info. PAHMA Storage Loc: 20A,W-13-4 File Code: 5.3 [crossed out on card]; [handwritten on card: 5.1]
Images:
Hearst Museum object titled Dance staff, accession number 5-6352, described as dance staff; Janus headed figure; head cleft in V-shape; hands held at sides of head; on each side of staff below arms openwork section runs down to handle; center section below head decorated front & back w/ guilloche motif in raised relief; l. 56 cm.; w. 13.2 cm.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Dance staff, accession number 5-6352, described as dance staff; Janus headed figure; head cleft in V-shape; hands held at sides of head; on each side of staff below arms openwork section runs down to handle; center section below head decorated front & back w/ guilloche motif in raised relief; l. 56 cm.; w. 13.2 cm.

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