Rare female terracotta figure · Cameroon, Mambila, Mbamga/Vokunde village · ID: 3040631
sold
EUR 700
Provenance
Alain Dufour, Saint Maur, FranceLucien van de Velde, Antwerp, Belgium
Size
H: 22,5 cm
H: 8.9 inch
Description
brown patina, traces of red pigment, compact body with the overlarge head widely projecting to the front, the body partly coated with burls, missing parts (right arm), some burls broken out or dam., acrylic base;
holes in the body of the figures (in present case between legs and in the head) served for insertion of power substances. The figures had various tasks ranging from protecting the family or village community from theft to curing disease and punishing sorcerers.
Comparing literature
Schwartz, Nancy, Mambila, Milwaukee 1972, p. 26