Standing male figure "tadep" · Cameroon, Mambila · ID: 3040072
Alain Naoum, Brussels, Belgium
Description
light wood, black, white and red paint, torso with bulging stomach and extremely short arms, egg-shaped head with a vaulted facial plane, dam., rep. (left heel), traces of insect caused damage, small missing parts, cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base;
used during healing rituals as well as being employed in casting spells to find a thief and cause him to fall ill. The culprit can then only recover if he admits his guilt and repairs the damage done. The statue was also an essential component in fertility rites. The figure definitely does not portray an ancestor. The local name of such sculptures would be “tadep”. Usually these were male-female pairs.
The object Standing male figure “tadep” with the object ID 3040072 was last part of the auction 82nd Tribal Art Auction at February 27, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 439 achieved a sales price of EUR 5,500.
You can find more Figures and other popular object types on our related topic pages. You may also be interested in our page on African art.
Publications
Van de Velde, Lucien & Joanna Teunen, From Benue River to Niger Delta, Antwerp 2012
AHDRC: 0096773
Exhibition
Winter BRUNEAF, Brussels 2009