Figure anthropomorphe "iagalagana", avant 1969
Nigéria, Mumuye
Vendu
3 000 €
Provenance
El Hadj Yende Amadou, Foumban, Cameroon (1969)German Private Collection
Taille
H: 120,5 cm
H: 47.4 inch
Description
wood, base
A Mumuye family group, “dola”, comprises from five to fifteen enclosures. One hut is reserved for statues, “iagalagana”, and another sacred hut, “java” is occupied by an influential person who might also be endowed with magical and religious powers. This person might be a healer, a soothsayer, a rainmaker, a bringer of thunder, or a blacksmith. It seems these statues underlined the status and prestige of the wearer, helped the sick, predicted the future, attracted rainfall, or made it thunder. They also had a judicial role in a given family by confounding liars and thieves.
Publications
AHDRC: 0153710