Tapper (Iroke Ifa)

Museum collection

Museum work by Yoruba

Art Institute of Chicago

Thread 92043

Spiritual Elevation

Where the original lives

Art Institute of Chicago

The original is held by the Art Institute of Chicago and is not for sale. This piece is shown for reference — no edition of it is offered.

See the work in the Art Institute of Chicago collection

Curator’s note

Yoruba (17th or 18th century) from Nigeria. Held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and released into the public domain, offered here as a museum-quality edition within the spiritual thread.

Details

Artist: Yoruba
Date: 17th or 18th century
Medium: Ivory
Dimensions: 47 × 5.1 × 7.7 cm · 18.5 × 2.0 in
Origin: Nigeria
Collection: Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection

Placing a spiritual elevation work

Devotional images, mandalas, temple architecture, pilgrimage — work made to be looked at for a long time rather than glanced at. This thread asks the most of its placement: a wall of its own, light that changes through the day, and nothing competing beside it.

Direction: North-east — the quarter reserved for the sacred
Rooms: Prayer rooms · Meditation spaces · Quiet corners · Entrance thresholds

See the whole thread

Provenance & rights

Source collection: Art Institute of Chicago. Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection. Public domain (CC0). Shown here for reference, with full attribution to the artist and holding institution. No edition of this work is offered.