Big female figure ·  Gabon, Tsogho/Vuvi · ID: 3041470

Description

wood, matt patina, polychrome paint, strong physique and angular forms, whitened facial plane with scarifications, hole on top of the head, dam., cracks, small missing parts, traces of abrasion;
the rare statuettes of the Tsogho were used for rites of the “bwiti” society and for the ancestral cult “mombe”. Sculpture of the Tsogho is invariably associated with initiation societies, at which the “bwiti” society has top priority. The “bwiti” cult is spread all over the whole of Central Gabon. “Bwiti” has no initiation rites in classical meaning, but an initiation through taking “iboga”, a hallucinogenic plant. The statuettes were kept in the mens house, together with all the other objects which were needed for the “bwiti” cult. At funeral rites or rites held in favour of a good harvest the statues were displayed inside the mens house.

Littérature comparée

Gollnhofer, Otto, Art e Artisanat Tsogho, Paris 1975, p. 85, ill. 176