Soul container figure "iran otibago" · Guinea-Bissau, Bissagos Islands, Bidjogo · ID: 3045418

Name: Soul container figure "iran otibago"
SKU: 3045418
Price: 900 EUR
Availability: SoldOut

sold EUR 900

Provenance

Jean-Marc Desaive, Soumagne, Belgium

Size

H: 29,5 cm

H: 11.6 inch

Description

wood, red pigment, metal, base

The Bidjogo believe that the spirit of deceased family members live on past the expiration of the person’s body, but only for as long as the soul is remembered by surviving family members.

At death, the surviving members create a wooden figure “iran otibago”, also known as “ira” or “eraminhô” within which the spirit of the ancestor resides.
Sacrifices are regularly made to the figure to appease the ancestor within.

The “iran otibago” are called upon before every agronomic project is started, as well as for all attempts concerning the community, like initiation, enthronement of a chief or funeral festivities. Sources state that the figures are also used as a medium for consultation with the Supreme Being “orrebuco-ocoto”.

The object Soul container figure “iran otibago” with the object ID 3045418 was last part of the auction 91 Tribal Art Auction at March 9, 2019 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 95 achieved a sales price of EUR 900.

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