M0012833: Divinatory effigy used by the Yarsi for prognosis of disease, Sierra Leone

Date:: January 1953

Reference:: WT/D/1/20/1/114/67

Part of:: Wellcome Trust Corporate Archive

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Collection contents

Wellcome Trust Corporate ArchiveWT
- Direct activitiesWT/D
  - Library and MuseumWT/D/1
    - Images from the photographic libraryWT/D/1/20
      - Photographic library: "M" seriesWT/D/1/20/1
        "M" series glass plate negatives: M0012767-M0012868WT/D/1/20/1/114
        M0012833: Divinatory effigy used by the Yarsi for prognosis of disease, Sierra LeoneWT/D/1/20/1/114/67

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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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Credit

M0012833: Divinatory effigy used by the Yarsi for prognosis of disease, Sierra Leone. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Also known as

Previous title, replaced January 2022: Divinatory effigy used by the Yarsi for prognosis of disease.

Description

Photograph of a divinatory effigy in the shape of a female figure in black wood, Mendiland, Sierra Leone. This item was acquired by the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum (R4155/1936). The accession register suggests this may have been used by the Yarsi, a women's secret society, primarily for divination and prognosis of disease.

Publication/Creation

January 1953

Physical description

1 photograph glass plate negative; 12 x 16.5 cm

Related material

Wellcome Collection holds the accession register for the item depicted in the glass plate negative:R4155/1936

Copyright note

Notes

Catalogue data comes from a combination of entries in the original glass plate registers, metadata created when the glass plates were digitised in the early 2000s and enhancements made by the cataloguer in 2022.

Terms of use

Please consult the digitised version as this item is fragile. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request access to the physical item.