Seated male figure "ntekpe" ·  Nigeria, Igbo · ID: 3048675

Description

terracotta, pigment remains, rest.

Through revelations communicated to individuals by divination, deities may prescribe the creation of shrines in their honor.

Figures like this one, often male and female in pairs or in the form of a single mother and child, were placed at these shrines.

The figures are called “ntekpe” and are regarded as “children” of the shrine and the deity who presides over it. Their task was to protect the inhabitants of the house and to intervene helpfully when needed.

These handmade clay creations are among the finest achievements of the West African ceramic tradition and were designed and made by elderly Igbo women.

The object Seated male figure “ntekpe” with the object ID 3048675 was last part of the auction 98th Auction at March 26, 2022 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 209 achieved a sales price of EUR 500.

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Comparing literature

Cole, Herbert M. & Chike C. Aniakor, Igbo Arts, Los Angeles 1984, p. 81