Standing female shrine figure

Description

wood, coated with brown clay-like sacrificial patina, small bits of eggshell visible on the backside, facial features hardly recognizable because of the thickness of the sacrificial matter, slightly dam., slightly cracky;
this small figure had been at one time part of a shrine collection. The figure is not a deity itself but a figure that witnesses offerings and prayers. Visitors to shrines during the ritual cycle or on certain special or holy days offer eggs and drink to the “obosom” (the shrine spirit) in personal gestures of supplication or appreciation. Therefore through time remnants of offerings and small bits of eggshell remained on this figure.