Pair of protective figures "bateba phuwe"
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.