Grave post with male ancestor figure

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Description

wood, greyish brown patina, lichen in some areas, large bearded head with hat-like headdress, accentuation of the male gender, surface with extreme traces of weathering, cracks, slightly dam., missing parts (post), socle;
Madagascan sculptures were nearly exclusively made for ancestral graves, where they were exposed to wind and weather. For the people of Madagascar the ancestors “razana” guarantee the existence of the living. The creation of sculptures and the accompaning rituals serve to confirm the coalescence of the deceased with the community of the ancestors and to insure the exchange of the deads vital force to the living.

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Comparing literature

Phillips, Tom (Hg.), Afrika, Die Kunst eines Kontinents, Berlin 1996, p. 150

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