Standing female figure ·  Tanzania, Kerewe · ID: 3036638

Description

fired clay, greyish brown coating, remains of red and black paint, a broad body rising from massive columnar legs, especially expressive modelled facial features with a strong nose and a piercing glance from glass bead eyes, the coiffure arranged in disordered tufts, which seem to be pressed out of the mass with the fingers, incised tattoos on arms and legs, slightly dam., minor missing parts;
up to today there is nothing known about the terracotta works of the Kerewe. The figures might depict ancestors or spirits. Even possible is that they have been used by soothsayers or healers. With neighbouring groups terracotta figures were used as visual means for the education of initiates in order to point out the hidden meaning of traditional songs and sayings.

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, Munich 2009, ill. on p. 342