Yoruba Scepter of the God, Orisha, Eshu

Circa 1890
18 ½ in (47 cm)
Wood, cloth, beads, cowrie shells 

Provenance:
Dr. Robert (1916-2006) and Helen (1920-2017) Kuhn Collection, Los Angeles, before 1974
Sotheby’s New York, The Kuhn Collection, 20 November 1991, lot 60
Private American Collection, acquired from the above 

Published:
Arneson, Jeanette Jensen, Tradition and Change in Yoruba Art, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacremento, California, 1974: back cover
Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste, The Tribal Arts of Africa, London: Thames & Hudson, L’Art tribal d’Afrique Noire, Paris: Editions Assouline, 1998:101, #6
Drewal, Henry John, Pemberton III, John, Abiodun, Rowland, Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought, edited by Allen Wardwell, New York, The Center for African Art and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989:28, #23 

Exhibited:
Sacramento, Tradition and Change in Yoruba Art, E.B.Crocker Art Gallery, 9 March-14 April 1974
Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought:
– New York, NY: The Center for African Art, 21 September 1989-7 January 1990
– Chicago, IL: The Art Institute of Chicago, 10 February-1 April 1990
– Washington, D.C.: The National Museum of African Art, 8 May 26 August 1990
– Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 26 September-9 December 1991
– New Orleans, LA: The New Orleans Museum of Art, 11 January-24 March 1991
– Atlanta, GA, The High Museum of Art, 23 April-16 June 1991