Standing female ancestor figure ·  Cameroon, Mambila · ID: 3034734

Description

wood, greyish black patina, encrusted in some areas, accentuation of the female sexual characteristics, voluminous belly with bulging navel, the large head with traditional heart-shaped face, deepened mouth opening with wooden splinters forming the teeth, slightly dam., cracks, missing parts through insect caused damage (both feet, left side of the chin), wooden socle;
much of Mambila art is associated with the seasonal cycles of planting and harvesting and the ancestral cult, whose material abode is the guarded shrine of every family compound. The real function of a figure cannot clearly be determined when once she has left her place of origin. Male figures might have served as guardians of the village - female figures might rather be seen in connection with fertility or as memorial figures.

Comparing literature

Gebauer, Paul, Art of Cameroon, New York 1979, p. 190