Description
This device helped contact an ancestral spirit who clarified misfortunes. The diviner awakened the ancestor by anointing the rectangular frame of the figurine with pungent basil leaves. Sitting on a textured woven mat, the diviner held one side of the instrument while the client held the other. The diviner then posed questions to the ancestor who responded through certain movement signaling affirmation.
Provenance
(Jean Dierickx, Brussels, BE, 1959, sold to René and Odette Delenne) (?-1959); René [1901-1998] and Odette Delenne [1925-2012], Brussels, BE, 2010, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1959-2010); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2010 (2010)
Accession Number
2010.455
Medium
Wood, glass beads, and natural fiber
Dimensions
Overall: 11.4 x 3.4 x 4.8 cm (4 1/2 x 1 5/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
René and Odette Delenne Collection, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund