Object Name: Beaded Bag
Place of Origin: Nigeria
Cultural Group: Yoruba peoples
Materials Used: Beads, thread, cloth
Dimensions: 89 cm (35.0 in)
Credit Line and Accession Number: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Museum Purchase. X96.3.3

The shapes and proportions in this beaded bag mark the hand and vision of a distinctive artist. Panels on the strap, as well as faces on the bag, have been elongated and then cut off at the bottom with a sharp horizontal line. The angularity of form and line, combined with strong color contrasts, is strikingly bold. The placement of four faces around a larger central face recalls the cardinal points and cosmic crossroads invoked by diviners and priests during rituals.

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 233