Object Name: White beaded gourd and lid
Place of Origin: Nigeria
Cultural Group: Yoruba peoples
Materials Used: Gourd, beads, cloth, thread
Dimensions: 17 cm (6.5 in)
Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Museum Purchase. X96.3.2b,c

Meant to hold empowering substances, this stoppered gourd activates and intensifies the work of the priest/ruler in rituals directed to the orisa funfun.

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 206