Standing female figure ·  Burkina Faso, Mossi · ID: 3032669

Description

wood, matt, brown patina, scarification marks on the upper part of the body, eye sockets filled with blackish mass (left one missing), metal tags (breast, coiffure), partly missing, min. dam., minor missing parts (left heel), fissures, on base;
probably an ancestor figure, which were guarded and protected by the Mossi chiefs and kept in special ancestral spirits’ houses. The nude figures represent the political power of the Mossi chiefs. They were dressed before being displayed in public once a year.