Imposant "bochio kpodohonme" · Bénin, Fon · ID: 3042794
Henricus Simonis, Düsseldorf, Germany
Description
wood, fabric, iron, black paint, kaolin, indigo blue pigment, the body wrapped with cloth and iron chains, which are abundantly hung with padlocks, head and upper part of the body encrusted with sacrificial matters in such a thick layer, that facial features and ritual appendages are not identifiable any more, iron snakes and pointed wooden sticks in the lower area, slightly dam., cracks (head and base), pedestal.
Metal objects are particularly “strong”. They invoke the Vodun “gu”, the god of iron and the violence of war. Padlocks enable you to “lock up” evil forces, or shut them up in an iron ring. A ring like this can also bring someone into a dead-end situation from which he cannot free himself.
Littérature comparée
Weinhold, Ulrike & Irene Hübner, Geest en Kracht, Vodun uit West-Afrika, Berg en Dal 1996, ill. 68