Anonymous Mumuye artist
Rain-making wand
Nigeria
Early 20th century
Iron
Early 20th century
Iron
height 52 cm
height 20 1/2 in
height 20 1/2 in
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In Nigeria’s Middle Benue region, Mumuye rainmakers were regarded with awe. They brought rains on time each year to assure the fertility of crops. Among their ritual instruments were forged...
In Nigeria’s Middle Benue region, Mumuye rainmakers were regarded with awe. They brought rains on time each year to assure the fertility of crops. Among their ritual instruments were forged iron wands in distinctive zigzag form, which represented a flash of lightning or the sudden strike of a snake, both harbingers of thunder and rain. Such regalia were kept in the ground inside shrines where offerings could be made. These wands could take elaborate forms, with several pointed iron elements bundled in clusters or inserted into small ceramic vessels.
Provenance
Finette Lemaire, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2022
Duende Art Projects, Antwerp, Belgium, 2022