VINTAGE AFRICAN NIGERIAN YORUBA BEADED LEATHER WOVEN FOLK NATIVE BASKET BEADED

Description

Vintage African Nigerian Yoruba Lidded Basket.Handwoven plant fiber form.  Vibrant Glass Beads, Leather, Cowrie Shells. Like beads, small cowrie shells were often used as currency and were signs of wealth and status. Many Yoruba sacred and secular objects were embellished with elaborate borders or arrangements of cowrie shells.  Here they are used to decorate a woven basket.24" D x 20" H.
Among the Yoruba tribe, beadwork is the province of the Ifa diviner, something akin to a holy man. Worn by Babalawo (diviners), beaded baskets such as this would hold the diviner's regalia and cowrie shells that would be tossed onto the ground and interpreted by the diviner.
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