Standing female figure · Gabon, Tsogho · ID: 3036680
Sotheby’s, New York, “The Harry Franklin Collection of African Art, 21 April 1990, lot 380
Description
wood, partly encrusted patina, remains of polychrome paint, flat and elongated upper part of the body, a cylindrical projection emerging from the crown-like coiffure, min. dam., missing parts (feet), cracks, traces of abrasion, base;
the rare statuettes of the Tsogho were used for rites of the “bwiti” society and for the ancestral cult “mombe” (aside of reliquary busts, called “mumba bwiti”). Sculpture of the Tsogho is invariably associated with initiation societies, at which the “bwiti” society has top priority. The “bwiti” cult is spread all over the whole of Central Gabon. “Bwiti” has no initiation rites in classical meaning, but an initiation through taking “iboga”, a hallucinogenic plant. The statuettes were kept in the mens house, together with all the other objects which were needed for the “bwiti” cult. At funeral rites or rites held in favour of a good harvest the statues were displayed inside the mens house.
Comparing literature
Gollnhofer, Otto, Art e Artisanat Tsogho, Paris 1975, p. 79, ill. 154