Pair of protective figures "bateba phuwe" · Burkina Faso, Lobi · ID: 3035764
Antonio Fiacco, Fehraltorf/Zurich, Switzerland
Description
wood, stained thick encrusted patina, arms close to the body, sacrificial traces (feathers, traces of liquids), missing parts (feet of the male figure/both lower legs of the female), rep. at the same place, cracks, small traces of insect caused damage backside, metal bases;
a work of the “carver of the tranquil faces”.
The Lobi differentiate between four types of “bateba” protective figures: “bateba phuwe” (the so-called “ordinary bateba”), “bateba bambar” (“paralyzed bateba”), “bateba ti puo” (“dangerous persons”) and “bateba ti bala” (“the extraordinary persons”). Present figures belong to the type of “ordinary bateba”, because they don’t show any special gesture or any physiological symptom. “Bateba phuwe” figures help people in many ways. They protect them from witches and witch doctors, they mourn on behalf of the occupants of the house so these do not need to mourn themselves, and they fulfill various urgent tasks, like the search for a spouse, preventing sterility or healing illnesses.
L’objet Pair of protective figures “bateba phuwe” avec l’ID d’objet 3035764 a fait partie de la dernière vente aux enchères 75th tribal art auction dans 30 novembre 2013 le Zemanek-Münster Hôtel des ventes. L’objet portant le numéro de lot 159 a atteint un prix de vente de 1 400 €.
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Littérature comparée
Herkenhoff, Katsouros, Anonyme Schnitzer der Lobi, Hannover 2006, p. 49 ff.