Standing male figure ·  Burkina Faso, Lobi · ID: 3036528

Description

wood, thick encrusted greyish brown patina, the elongated upper part of the body tightly enclosed by clamp-like arranged arms, bulging neck, round and soft facial features, sacrificial traces (chicken feathers), slightly dam., fragmentary (legs below the tighs missing), cracks, abrasion of patina, base;
to this day Lobi communities have no chiefs or political leaders. They are, instead, religious communities, being protected and blessed by a particular and well defined number of spirits, called “thil”. Because so many afflictions threaten life and prosperity, many “thil” are needed to protect the community. The “thil” are represented by “bateba” figures. Like humans, “thil” come in pairs, and “bateba” too are created in pairs. This piece has no distinguishing gesture, placing it in the category of normal “bateba”: it provides broader, more generalized spiritual protection to the members of its congregation.

Comparing literature

Fagaly, William, Ancestors of Congo Square, New Orleans 2011, p. 74