A Yoruba Opon Ifa Divination Tray.
A Carved wooden flat tray with carved and raised various motifs relating to Yoruba life and spirituality, the Yoruba Trickster god Eshu face is on top of the tray. 
 
The most essential implements of a Yoruba babalawo, or diviner, are his tray opon Ifa and his tapper iroke Ifa. To initiate a divination session, the babalawo strikes the point of the tapper several times against the tray in order to invoke the Yoruba god of fate, Orunmila. The diviner then continues to make markings on the tray that record the results of a series of palm nut or seedpod castings. 
 
The board measures  19 inches tall and wide and was very well used as a ritual implement.
 Yoruba peoples, Nigeria, West Africa.  
Provenance: A Private American collection.