Zemanek-Münster

Rare ancestor figure "gheonga" ·  Gabon, Tsogho/ Sango · ID: 3044745

not available anymore
Provenance
Christie’s, Paris, 15 Juin 2002, lot 214
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 7 September 2013, lot 304
Private Collection, Munich, Germany
Size
H: 65 cm
H: 25.6 inch

Description

wood, black and white pigment, rep.

Sculpture of the Tsogho is invariably associated with initiation societies, at which the “bwiti” society has top priority. The “bwiti” cult is spread all over the whole of Central Gabon. “Bwiti” has no initiation rites in classical meaning, but an initiation through taking “iboga”, a hallucinogenic plant.

The statuettes were kept in the men’s house, together with all the other objects which were needed for the “bwiti” cult. At funeral rites or rites held in favour of a good harvest the statues were displayed inside the men’s house.


The object Rare ancestor figure “gheonga” with the object ID 3044745 was last part of the auction 90.I Tribal Art and 90.II Contemporary Native American Art at November 17, 2018 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 243.

You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.


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