Culture Yorùbá
Culture Oyo (Subgroup of the Yoruba)
Title Staff for Esu/Elegba (Ogo Elegba)
Date Before 1930
Medium Wood, leather, cowrie shells, brass, bone, and and iron
Dimensions Object (does not include shells): 19 3/4 × 3 1/2 × 9 in. (50.2 × 8.9 × 22.9 cm)
Overall (does not include shells): 19 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 9 in. (50.2 x 8.9 x 22.9 cm)
Credit Line Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 87.24.2
About this Work
Widely admired for the variety, quality, and quantity of their sculpture, the sixteen groups who make up the Yoruba peoples live in southwestern Nigeria and the eastern part of the Republic of Benin. Most members of their extraordinarily large pantheon of deities—estimates range from several hundred to well over a thousand—are worshipped in limited areas of Yorubaland, but a few are universally recognized with sculpture of a prescribed form. One of those is Esu (sometimes written “Eshu”), also known as Elegba, a deity, or orisa, who, paradoxically, creates confusion and disorder while at the same time offering the means for achieving balance and harmony through his role as messenger between gods and people.
During celebrations honoring Esu, the Yoruba trickster deity, this staff was hooked over the right shoulder of a male devotee as he danced. The figure's distinctive long-tailed hairdo associates it with Esu, and the figure blows a whistle similar to ones used to summon him during festivals. The addition of white cowrie shells against dark wood is also a visual reminder of this deity, who is associated with contradictions and contrasts.
