{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951","caption":"Yorùbá artist, Nigeria, Western Africa, Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá), 20th century. Glass beads, cotton, and wooden beads; 106.2 x 10.5 x 3.1 cm. Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951 (1998-734)","cultureterms":[{"id":2041478,"culture":"African"},{"id":2042050,"culture":"Yoruba"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","terms":[{"id":2048931,"term":"ornament","aatid":300056258,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2159241,"term":"chevrons","aatid":300009766,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2092213,"term":"diviners","aatid":300207878,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2130736,"term":"necklaces","aatid":300046001,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2041478,"term":"African","aatid":300015647,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2042050,"term":"Yoruba","aatid":300016031,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2043611,"term":"cotton (fiber)","aatid":300183670,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2044421,"term":"cotton (textile)","aatid":300014067,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2048485,"term":"beads","aatid":300234006,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2151468,"term":"sewing","aatid":300053658,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2044505,"term":"cloth","aatid":300162391,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2045195,"term":"thread","aatid":300014250,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2157849,"term":"beading (process)","aatid":300235440,"termtype":"Techniques"},{"id":2045920,"term":"wood","aatid":300011914,"termtype":"Materials"},{"id":2161148,"term":"glass","aatid":300010797,"termtype":"Materials"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Africa, Nigeria","code":"Place made","continent":"Africa","subcontinent":"Western Africa","country":"Nigeria","region":null,"state":null,"city":null,"county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2328926/federal-republic-of-nigeria.html","location":{"lat":"10","lon":"8"}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"Overall","type":"Length","units":"centimeters","dimension":"106.20"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"10.50"},{"element":"Overall","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"3.10"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"1998-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":14188,"displayname":"Yorùbá","displaydate":null,"datebegin":0,"dateend":0,"prefix":null,"suffix":"artist","role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Yorùbá artist","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1949,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Ornament","packages":[{"packageid":76937,"name":"web_African_beading_2016-06"}],"catalograisonne":null,"classifications":[{"id":2130736,"classification":"necklaces"},{"id":2048931,"classification":"ornament"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV008581"],"displaytitle":"Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)","displayculture":null,"displaymaker":"Yorùbá artist","captionhtml":"Yorùbá artist, Nigeria, Western Africa, <i>Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)</i>, 20th century. Glass beads, cotton, and wooden beads; 106.2 x 10.5 x 3.1 cm. Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951 (1998-734)","displaydate":"20th century","medium":"Glass beads, cotton, and wooden beads","media":[{"id":43475,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/INV008581","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"Inventory Project"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":false,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>","citation":"<p>\"The checklist of the John B. Elliott Bequest,\" <em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum </em>61 (2002): p. 49-99.</p>, p. 71","date":2002,"id":3025,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774767"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"African and Oceanic Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199315,"term":"African Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1945-present","dateend":1998,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Ifá diviner's necklace (òdìgbà Ifá)","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"1998-734","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"\r\nA Yoruba diviner (<I>babalawo</I>) earns the right to wear a necklace such as this one only after intensive training in the rituals and oral literature (<I>Odu Ifa</I>) of divination. The necklace comprises fourteen wooden beads (representing a tree sacred to Orunmila, the founder of<I> Ifa </I>divination) and two beaded pouches, whose chromatic array suggests <I>Ifa’s</I> ability to interact with a range of forces in the cosmos. Together, the necklace’s sixteen segments refer to the sixteen major chapters of the <I>Odu Ifa</I>. Since beadwork was originally reserved for the Yoruba king, the beadwork here underscores the diviner’s importance to the Yoruba community. Protective substances were likely sewn into the pouches, which were worn to overlay the points of vulnerability: the chest and the base of the neck. Abstract eyes and a nose transform each pouch into a face that likely refers to Oduduwa, the first ruler of the Yoruba people. Though commissioned by the diviner according to symbolic conventions, the bead artist expressed his own creativity with a beaded fringe hanging from the pouches. </P></SPAN>","remarks":"Beading African History"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"John B. Elliott, New York, NY; Princeton University Art Museum, 1998","remarks":null}],"datebegin":1900,"sortnumber":"1998  734","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:52:10.544214","objectid":36992,"dimensions":"l. 106.2 cm., w. 10.5 cm., d. 3.1 cm. (41 13/16 x 4 1/8 x 1 1/4 in.)","on_view":false}