Shrine figure "iran otiba(n)go" ("tamed spirit")
Guinea-Bissau, Bissagos Islands, Bidjogo
sold
EUR 3,140
Provenance
Eugene and Harriet R. Becker, Great Neck, USAAnne M. Spencer, Newark, USA
Newark Museum, USA (deaccessioned 2019)
Herrmann Sommerhage, Duisburg, Germany (2021)
Size
H: 38 cm
H: 15.0 inch
Description
wood, pigments, base
The Bidjogo figures are called “iran”; the Bidjogo use this word for everything they consider sacred. The sculptures are the personifications of the ancestor deities, “ounika”, and are placed in special shrines that are put up in the huts. These shrines are usually veiled so that the figures cannot be seen.
The figures are usually associated with fertility and high crop yields. They regularly receive offerings, as evidenced by the heavily encrusted surface of the present figure.
The “iran” figures have various styles, varying from naturalistic to abstract.
Comparing literature
Afrikanische Skulptur, Die Erfindung der Figur, Museum Ludwig Köln 1990, p. 104 ff.Publications
AHDRC: 0167580