Four small stone figures "nomoli"
Sierra Leone, Sherbro
sold
EUR 350
Provenance
German Private Collection, Hamburg, collected in situ (1959 - 1965)Size
H: 7 cm - 10,5 cm
H: 2.8 inch - 4.1 inch
Description
lime stone, all in a crouching position, min. dam., small missing parts, slight traces of abrasion;
such figures were found in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and on the Ivory Coast. They were used in fertility rites to grant a good rice harvest. The treatment of the “nomoli” was not affected by reference for them. If the harvest was not satisfying, it might have happened that the stone figures were whipped, sometimes until they were damaged or even destroyed.