Figure jumelle "flanitokele"
Description
wood, blackish brown patina, hermaphrodite, slender elongated forms creating an elegant overall effect, slightly dam., missing parts (hairdo, left foot tip), traces of insect caused damage, base.
For a figure by the same carver see important standard reference work “Negerplastik” by Carl Einstein, Munich 1920 (ill. 6).
The Bamana create special figures for twins as part of a religious association called “sinzin”. Twins are seen as a great gift to their parents, as beings with extraordinary positive powers. The figures called “flanitokele” are carved after the death of a twin. Local traditions determine the guardian of the figure (either the surviving twin, the father, or the mother) who is responsible for the maintenance of the “nyama” of the dead twin. The “nyama” is the spirit that is separated from the twin’s body at death. Although most children are believed to incarnate the spirit of a recently deceased ancestor, twins do not reincarnate ancestors. Bamana twins are new souls, given directly from “faro”, the primary deity of the Bamana. They are given special names in conjunction with ceremonies honouring their birth.