Figure masculine debout "ihambe" · Nigéria, Tiv · ID: 3040969
Description
wood, base
“Ihambe” figures are set up individually or as a group in front of the family compound. The figures are closely associated with the senior wife/mother of the house. When the latter dies, the responsiblity for the figure/s devolves to the daughter-in-law.
Regarding their function there are different approaches. Some see them as incarnations of ancestors. Fagg calls them a kind of “tutelary village guardians” serving to protect the land and its fertility. Sieber recognizes that there is a symbolic relationship to manhood and virility. A mixture of all these functions seems to be correct.
Littérature comparée
Neyt, Francois, The Arts of the Benue, Michigan 1985, p. 162, ill. IV.1 ff.