Shrine figure "iran otiba(n)go" ("tamed spirit") · Guinea-Bissau, Bissagos Islands, Bidjogo · ID: 3049679
Anne M. Spencer, Newark, USA
Newark Museum, USA (deaccessioned 2019)
Herrmann Sommerhage, Duisburg, Germany (2021)
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.
The object Shrine figure “iran otiba(n)go” (“tamed spirit”) with the object ID 3049679 was last part of the auction Sale 100 at April 15, 2023 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 28 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,140.
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Comparing literature
Afrikanische Skulptur, Die Erfindung der Figur, Museum Ludwig Köln 1990, p. 104 ff.
Publications
AHDRC: 0167580