Pair Of Wrought Iron Spits/Crosses "Assein"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 19 Jun 1942
name: label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Alfred Metraux
notes: label: Notes
content: SHAPED LIKE THE HEAD OF A DOWNWARD TURNED HALBERD; CROSS MEMBERS TURNED DOWN ON ENDS AND FLATTENED; TRIVET-LIKE METAL AT TOP. IN VODOU CEREMONIES THESE SPITS/CROSSES ARE REGARDED AS MANIFESTATIONS OF DAMBALLAH, THE SERPENT DIETY, AND HIS FEMALE CONSORT AIDA-WEDO. THEY ARE DRIVEN INTO THE EARTH BEFORE AN ALTAR TO HOLD RITUAL OFFERINGS OF FOOD FOR THEIR DIETIES.
label: Notes
content: From card: "...LOANED TO RENWICK 4/9/82, RETURNED 6/1983..." [for exhibit in "Celebration: A World of Art and Ritual" at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1982-83]
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Sep 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Croix-Des-Bouquets (Near Port-Au-Prince), Haiti, Caribbean
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Haitian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 163278
label: USNM Number
content: E382557-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spit