Figurally carved dance staff · Burkina Faso, Lobi · ID: 3034335
sold
EUR 450
Provenance
Helmut von Hacht, Hamburg, GermanySize
H: 60,5 cm
H: 23.8 inch
Description
wood, blotched brown patina, remains of kaolin, crowned by a seated janus figure, the headgear originally decorated with metal tags, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion;
figural carved dance staffs were used by young men. They ought to be as beautiful as possible (“buore”), so that their owners could “show off”.
Comparing literature
Meyer, Piet, Kunst und Religion der Lobi, Zürich 1981, p. 152, ill. 204