Ritual mortar, Yoruba; Nigeria
Wood; H. 13 1/4"
This ritual mortar ("ritual"
in that it is carved inverted, and the interior
was never actually used as a mortar) has been attributed
to the master Olowe of Ise by Dr. Roslyn
Adele Walker. She explains, "Among the Yoruba,
plain wooden mortars (odo) are used for pounding
foodstuffs or cooked yams. Decorated ones are used
in religious rituals, usually in an inverted position
as a seat, table or shrine cover. Odo Sango
are used in the worship of Shango, the thunder
god, and, especially among the northern Ekiti-Yoruba,
orun oba protect a chief's memorial to his
ancestors (cf. National Museum of African Art 98:132-133).
