Pair of figures ·  Mali, Bamana · ID: 3032535

Description

wood, greyish brown patina, traces of black paint, eyes with metal tags, male/female, rising from long legs, provided with voluminous shoulders and striking small heads with large ear conches, incised scarifications, slightly dam., cracks, side by side mounted on a plate;
“jo” characterizes the entity of the rites and cults of the Bamana people. “Jo” is embodied by two kinds of figures: by “jo mooni”, a figural depiction of the spirit of “jo” and by “jo nyeleni”, effigies of the female founders of the cult. Presumably the two figures depict “the primordial couple” of the Bamana.

Comparing literature

Colleyn, Jean Paul (Hg.), Bamana, Zürich 2001, p. 143 f.