The Starcke Collection of African Art
Timed Online Auction, 3 - 19 November 2025
African Art and Artefacts
Lot Estimate Change Currency
ZAR 3 000 - 5 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 3 604
Delivery
Additional delivery charges apply
Shipping
About this Item
Yoruba Opa Orisha iron staff, Nigeria
height: 74cm excluding base, 76cm including base; width: 21cm; depth: 19cm
forged iron on a perspex base
Notes
Serves as a ritual emblem and offering within shrines dedicated to the deities (orisha). It is most likely associated with Ogun, the Yoruba deity of iron, war, and technology, or with related divinities. The staff symbolizes power, protection, and spiritual communication through iron.
Yoruba ironwork represents a highly developed art form that merges functional craftsmanship with deep spiritual symbolism. The circular arrangement of stylized birds—each rendered with dynamic precision—demonstrates the blacksmith’s mastery and conceptual understanding of communal and cosmic order. This composition may symbolize a gathering of spirits, the unity of ancestral forces, or a ritual assembly of divine beings.
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