Small janiform power figure "mu po" · Prairie Camerounaise, Bamiléké · ID: 3040627
Vendu
1 500 €
Provenance
Inge Hett, Berlin, GermanyGerman Private Collection, Berlin
Description
wood, black patina, partly encrusted, male and female, standing back to back, identical formed, small deepening on one side, slightly dam., base;
Bamileke healers and soothsayers used such small wooden statuettes to represent their patients, who would be treated at a distance. Sometimes the statuettes have a cavity in the body into which magical substances would be placed and the cavity closed with a band of leather or cloth. Some of them would be carried by mask-wearing members of the “kungan” society during their big rituals.