Standing female figure ·  Burkina Faso, Lobi · ID: 3034019

Description

wood, spotted light brown patina, supporting a pot on the head (?), metal bell around the neck, linear scarification marks in poker-work on cheeks and upper part of the body, slightly dam., cracks, water spots, on metal plate;
the Lobi don’t know ancestor figures in the sense of commemorative figures for clan members who died several generations before. Statues of the Lobi are rather to be conceived as living beings, able to see and communicate with each other, and able to ward off witches and evil spirits. Such figures were called “bateba”. They are mixed creatures, combining a human appearance with supernatural qualities of the “thil” (spiritual beings).

Comparing literature

Meyer, Piet, Kunst und Religion der Lobi, Zürich 1981, p. 52 f.