Protective figure "bateba phuwe"
Burkina Faso, Lobi - Birifor
not available anymore
Provenance
Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris, 3 July 2007, Lot 134 (offered as male/female couple)Christof Vonderau, Berlin, Germany
Rainer Berner, Berlin, Germany
Size
H: 63 cm
H: 24.8 inch
Description
wood, strongly encrusted patina/ sacrificial traces, base
The order to have a figure sculpted the people receive from the “thila”, invisible beings provided with supernatural powers and skills, who serve as mediatiors between god and the people.
The “bateba” become a living and active being in that moment, in that they are placed on a shrine and are subordinated to the authority of a “thil”. It then turns into mixed beings, that combine human appearance and superhuman qualities of the “thil”.
Such figures are kept in shrines as living personages that see, communicate and intervene in the life of Lobi villages in warding off disease or witchcraft.
Publications
AHDRC: 0004126