Zemanek-Münster

Seated figure "nomoli"

Sierra Leone, Sherbro
sold EUR 16,000
Provenance
American Private Collection, Connecticut
Pace Gallery, New York, USA (No. 53 1063)
Size
H: 22 cm
H: 8.7 inch

Description

lime stone, wreath-like headgear, dam., missing part (base), slight traces of abrasion;
such figures were found in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and on the Ivory Coast. They were used in fertility rites to grant a good rice harvest. The treatment of the “nomoli” was not affected by reference for them. If the harvest was not satisfying, it might have happened that the stone figures were whipped, sometimes until they were damaged or even destroyed.


Comparing literature

Tagliaferri, Aldo & Arno Hammacher, Die steinernen Ahnen, Graz 1974, ill. 9 f.

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