Standing female figure "nkhosi"

Description

wood, dark brown patina, black paint, disc-shaped crested coiffure, both hands resting aside the prominent navel, slightly dam., missing part (right foot tip), trace of insect caused damage (crested coiffure, neck, back), base;
might be classified as “nkhosi” figure, representing ancestral spirits. Such figures had a divinatory function or acted to protect lineage-related relics. They were ritual tools of the “nganga”(diviner/healer).