This is a divination tray, or “opon ifá”, dating from the early twentieth century. Used for hundreds of years by the Yoruba peoples of west Africa, the opon ifá belonged to a diviner-priest called a “babalawo” who would consult the Gods and ancestors in order to help someone make an important decision or find a solution to a serious problem.
Trays like this one were made of wood, and a powder would have been cast over it. The babalawo would sprinkle some small markers such as palm nuts onto the flat surface, and using his or her extensive memorized knowledge of hundreds of verses, get assistance from the spirit deity (“orisha”) Esu to seek the right divination.
The face of Esu frequently appears at the top of the opon ifá trays. Like European Medieval Christian iconography, the images on the opon ifá divining trays were both decorative and full of meaning.
Source(s): From the New Orleans Museum of Arr, accession #90.389. Also information from opon ifá trays from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery.
