Object Name: Beaded Necklace
Place of Origin: Nigeria
Cultural Group: Yoruba peoples
Materials Used: Cloth, leather, glass beads, cardboard, wood, thread
Date: 1978
Dimensions: 96 cm (37.7 in)
Credit line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of Helen and Dr. Robert Kuhn. X78.2149

A syncopated pattern of colored triangles covers the miniature bags of this necklace. The carved borders of some divination trays represents this type of necklace. In Brazil, the beaded necklace forms the encircling border for divination. Thus the center of the tray the eri ade opon (the crowned head of the tray), is where the diviner’s head (when seen from above) would be when wearing the necklace. His spiritual head is at the point of the interaction of realms, prepared to transmit messages from beyond to those in the world.

Source: Drewal, H., Mason, J. (1998). “Beads, Body, and Soul – Art and Light in the Yoruba Universe”, Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. page 234