Mother-and-child "bateba"

Description

wood, stained blackish brown patina, slightly dam. (foot), cracks, sacrificial traces, base;
a work of the carver Lunkena Pale from Gaoua
the female carrying a child is used in magical practices to drive off an evil spirit that is dangerous for a pregnant woman. The fact of ritually “tying” the object to the woman makes a link between her pregnancy and the carved image of her future motherhood so that the evil spirit will enter the object instead of her womb.

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