The Secret Ogboni Society

Author(s): Hans Witte

Source: African Arts, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Oct., 1976), pp. 75-76
Published by: UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3335262 .
Accessed: 17/06/2014 22:29

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center and Regents of the University of California are collaborating
with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to African Arts.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.199 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 22:29:17 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
recent exhibitions
4?Ir~r CC~l
s~'-I ~~t ~
THE SECRET OGBONI SOCIETY
Afrika Museum
Berg en Dal, Netherlands
April 9-August 1
The Ogboni exhibition at the Afrika
Museum in Berg en Dal presented 190 ob-
jects related to the Ogboni society of the
Yoruba in Nigeria. The items came from
museums and private collections in the
Netherlands, Belgium, England, France
and Germany, and most of them had
never been shown in public. The exhi-
bition was the first major show, at least in
Europe, to concentrate on the astonish-
ing Ogboni objects and offered first of all
an impression of the variety, liveliness and
beauty of the Ogboni bronzes.
We still know very little of the Ogboni
rites and symbolism, and for that reason it
was impossible to arrange the objects in
accordance with these categories. In the
present state of our knowledge the most
prudent alternative was to make a
morphological division of the material: a
large section of edan in their different
forms, both spiked and free-standing; the
Onile statues; the horseman figures; the
rattles, bracelets and title-staffs, mostly in
brass; and the wooden objects such as
drums, a door and a bull-roarer.
p- C
- --11t?IIIL-~
The best known and most typical
Ogboni object is undoubtedly the pair of
anthropomorphic brass staffs or figures
known as edan. The exhibition shows that
the same workshops produced both
spiked and free-standing varieties and also
used an alloy of lead-tin-zinc as well as
brass. Perhaps the objects (not only edan
but also masks and bracelets) in this alloy
were made for the followers of Obatala,
who might also have ordered the hunch-
backed edan. The free-standing edan is not
limited to the well-known full figures of a
man and a woman, but-like the spiked
ones-can take the form of a single head
or of two figures one on top of the other
(the so-called ikuku oro), although these
last two versions of the free-standing edan
seem to be extremely rare.
X-ray photographs of the free-standing
edan prove that in their core a small piece
of iron is hidden, which-unlike the iron
pin in the spiked version-has no techni-
cal function. Even a sword blade only a
few millimeters thick contains a very small
piece of iron. This might indicate that in
Ogboni thought, the well-known female
symbolism of earth is doubled by the male
symbolism of iron, linked with Ogun and
the blacksmith. The apparent importance
of iron in Ogboni symbolism was another
reason for including title-staffs of the
blacksmiths (iwana ogun) and ceremonial
swords for the god of iron (ada ogun) in
the exhibition, although their icono-
graphical resemblance to the other
Ogboni material would have been enough
to justify their presence. The opportunity
for comparison in such a broad survey of
Ogboni pieces widens the possibility of
localizing certain styles and even indi-
vidual masters. Two pairs of edan shown
in the exhibition were photographed in
situ in Nigeria by William Fagg in 1950.
One comes from Ijebu Ife; the other was
said to have been brought from Old Oyo.
A curious feature of the latter pair is that
the breasts of the female figure are hol-
lowed out from the back. Two other pairs
and two single figures from the same
master or workshop were on display.
,,
i

EARTH-MOTHERFIGURE, ONILE.40cm.
STOLPER GALLERIES,MUNICH.

FREESTANDINGOGBONI EDAN. 22cm.

PRIVATECOLLECTION.

75

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.199 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 22:29:17 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 A 260-page exhibition catalogue with
more than 160 photographs and a text (in
Dutch) written by the well-known Ogboni
specialist Dr. Th. Dobbelmann is avail-
able by mail from the Afrika Museum,
Postweg 6, Berg en Dal, Netherlands, at
27.50 guilders plus postage. Dr. Dob-
belmann has summarized all present
information on the religious and political
functions of the Ogboni society and the
technical and symbolic aspects of its
iconography. A German version of the
catalogue is in preparation.
The exposition remained at the Afrika
Museum in Berg en Dal until the first of
August of this year. From September until
December it will be shown in the Rauten-
strauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne.
Hans Witte
Afrika Museum
WEAVING, TEXTILES &
COSTUMES FROM WEST AFRICA
Africana Museum
Cuttington University College
Suakoko, Liberia
May 1-July24, 1976
In its most recent exhibition, the Afri-
cana Museum at Cuttington University
College featured a sampling of West Afri-
can textiles and costumes. The majority of
the exhibition was assembled from the
museum's permanent collection and a few
pieces were on loan from the private
collections of faculty members.
FEATHERGOWN. LOMA,LIBERIA.
GOWN. LOMA,LIBERIA.
LEOPARD-SKIN,RED CLOTH,LEATHER.
76
This content downloaded from 195.78.108.199 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 22:29:17 PM
MEN'S WEAVE.MENDE,SIERRA LEONE.
Among the costumes displayed, all of
which originated from Liberia or its im-
mediate surrounding areas, the two which
attracted the most attention were loma
costumes from the museum collection.
The first is a gown and headdress made
from the feathers of the guinea fowl and
the "blue wing" and is purported to have
been worn by a messenger for the Poro
society; the second is a magnificent gown
and headdress of leopard skin and red
cloth patchwork with elaborate leather
trimming. The headdress, which is hung
with eagle's talons and amulets, adds to
the visual power of the costume. It is said
to be either a war gown or a costume worn
by a high official of the Poro society.
The focus of the exhibition, however,
was on textiles, and the show featured a
variety of examples from Liberia, Ivory
Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali and
Nigeria. A piece of Mende men's weave
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
with a striking interwoven design, two
recently acquired examples of Ibo Akwete
cloth, and a Baule woman's garment-cloth
made using ikat technique were among
those textiles most admired. Exhibits were
also set up displaying the various imple-
ments used by strip-loom weavers in West
Africa, and those implements that are
needed to hand-spin raw cotton into the
thread used in much of the traditionally
woven cloth. Along with the more tradi-
tional textiles made with indigenous
materials and methods were featured
examples of contemporary tied and dyed
and wax print cloth such as that being cur-
rently produced in Liberia and Sierra
Leone. Several pieces with brilliant color
and extremely varied designs were repre-
sentative of techniques using imported
dyes and cloth. The growing popularity of
imported materials was also illustrated by
several pieces woven in the traditional
manner but using colorful imported
threads instead of the traditional hand-
spun and dyed thread.
The obvious creativity and beauty in-
herent in these textiles and costumes most
assuredly illustrate the talents of West
African weavers and dyers. One of the
aims of this exhibition was to encourage
an awareness of the importance of this
artistic tradition and to stimulate its
continuation and preservation. It is hoped
that this show succeeded in contributing
something to that effort.
Despite its somewhat isolated location
in the heart of Liberia, the Africana
Museum was pleased to welcome, besides
the students, faculty and staff of the uni-
versity, many appreciative visitors and
friends who saw the exhibition. During
the last week of July a major portion of
the show was carried to Monrovia and re-
assembled in the United States Infor-
mation Service (USIS) building where it
received a good deal more publicity and
exposure.
Sigrid Docken Mount
Africana Museum