An elegant iron staff axe created by a Yorùbá master blacksmith by reforging hoe blades worn out from many years of farming brings this point home. The focus object honors and instigates Òrìsà Òkó, the Yorùbá deity who assures wealth and prosperity through the fertility of the land. Detailing the considerable skill required to reforge hoe blades and thereby produce a magnificent staff axe, draws attention to an iron object’s exceptional features that might well be indiscernible without his very particular expertise.
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