Two terracotta objects · Nigeria, Qua-Calabar · ID: 3041279
Rolf Christoph Lutz (1930-2016), Gernsbach, Germany
Lutz worked as medical doctor for the Basler Mission in Bawku, Agogo and Bechem in Ghana from 1958 to 1967.
Born in 1930 in Kaying, South China where his parents already worked for the Basel Mission, after his studies he knew that he would like to work as a missionary doctor as did his father. After graduation, he decided to choose Ghana. Beginning in 1958 he worked with his wife Eva-Maria, in a hospital in Bawku in the north of the country, near the border with Burkina Faso, as well as in Agogo and Bechem. In 1967, he returned with his family to Germany.
His friendship with Karl-Heinz Krieg, who worked in the hospital administration in Agogo from 1960, goes back to those shared years in Ghana.
Description
fired black clay, covered with a thick layer of yellow pigment, fragmentary head and object with massive globular headpiece, both mounted on pedestal;
the Qua are a small ethnic group, who descended from the Ejagham in southeastern Nigeria. They have been living in and around Calabar for centuries. They were the creators of magnificent terracottas which were discovered during building work in Calabar in areas, which according to tradtion were places for burial and sacrifices. Both objects could have served as finial/lid of grave urnes (compare Schädler, 1997, p. 249).
The object Two terracotta objects with the object ID 3041279 was last part of the auction 84th Tribal Art Auction at November 5, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 237 achieved a sales price of EUR 400.
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Comparing literature
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Erde und Erz, München 1997