African Divination cup. Yoruba, Dogon, other?

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by J Dagger, Sep 2, 2020.

  1. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    0CE84683-A7D6-401E-879F-44A5EB2545CA.jpeg 2188D910-EABB-4810-A846-931C69BEFC9B.jpeg 34A5817D-D72A-4BBA-9830-0D647CB96DEC.jpeg 002C36B9-8680-4980-9609-AF8AD47187C0.jpeg 5D8112B1-E796-48AF-A213-EF24E71A150A.jpeg F46F3E25-7EF3-4D12-9E1A-91700FB9FD97.jpeg Scored this cup for what I considered a tremendous deal. I’m trying to nail down it’s origin and maybe when it was carved. I think it’s probably Yoruba based on the facial scarification and fact they make more of these than other African cultures seem to. The imagery looks a little more Dogon to me though. Dogon carvings often feature horses of which this has none though. I have very little knowledge on these cultures overall. I assume someone that does will be able to tell a lot more based on the characters. Not sure what the guys with the diamond pattern carving are. One looks like a double snouted crocodile character maybe? Guessing it’s 50s-80s maybe, but not too sure here. Hoping older but these things can be tricky to date. Figured I would share and see what some folks with more African knowledge say. It’s about 17” tall.
     
  2. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    17 inch cup...is too big for a cup....
    plus the Senufo double Firespitter helmet .....shouldn't be on a cup.....imo..

    upload_2020-9-2_19-45-11.jpeg
     
    2manybooks and J Dagger like this.
  3. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    727E27CD-90E5-424B-A792-0D31BAE3C8B2.jpeg
    Ah Senufo!! Yeh I guess deep bowl that looks like a huge cup. I figured it may be missing a lid!

    Why wouldn’t he be on a cup?

    Thanks for the lead!
     
  4. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

  5. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    Fire spitters are also depicted on Senufo Korhogo cloths.
    upload_2020-9-2_21-32-58.png
     
  6. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    well, it's fine on cloths...
     
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