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Baule Tribe Mouse Oracle (Gbekre), Divination bowl from ivory…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Auckland
Date:
22-Mar-2011
Lot No.
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Description:
Baule Tribe Mouse Oracle (Gbekre), Divination bowl from ivory Coast. U sed for fortune telling, the physical apparatus of the gbekre is contained within a terracotta vessel inside a hollow wooden cylinder. A shelf divides the vessel into two distinct chambers, which are connected by a hole, the mice are placed in the lower chamber and pass through the hole into the upper chamber, in which the diviner has placed ten small sticks (originally, bird or bat bones were used), the small sticks, called gbekre nyma ('eyes of the mice'), are coated with flour and attached at one end with fibre to the shell of an earth turtle, the actions of the mice in the upper chamber change the positions of the sticks, creating a new configuration that constitutes the sign to be translated by the diviner. Lovely geometric border, lightly carved, with figure carved in the round attached at the back. split to the side which has been repaired. Height 23 cm. Width 17 cm.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Tribal: African