Mother-and-child "bateba" ·  Burkina Faso, Lobi · ID: 3035801

Description

wood, stained blackish brown patina, slightly dam. (foot), cracks, sacrificial traces, base;
a work of the carver Lunkena Pale from Gaoua
the female carrying a child is used in magical practices to drive off an evil spirit that is dangerous for a pregnant woman. The fact of ritually “tying” the object to the woman makes a link between her pregnancy and the carved image of her future motherhood so that the evil spirit will enter the object instead of her womb.

Comparing literature

Bognolo, Daniela, Lobi, Milan 2007, pl. 34