Moba statue, Togo Wood H. 43 cm In the north... - Lot 72 - De Baecque et Associés

Lot 72
Go to lot
Estimation :
800 - 1200 EUR
Moba statue, Togo Wood H. 43 cm In the north... - Lot 72 - De Baecque et Associés
Moba statue, Togo Wood H. 43 cm In the north of Togo, Leo Frobenius, accompanied by German administrators of the region, Kersting in particular, was the first to have noticed these austere objects linked to the harvest cult as well as the great rites of life. The Moba, people of farmers and hunters, created a statuary art all in verticality, in sobriety intended to represent the ancestors, called tchitchiri. Embodying a concept of ancestors, these statues could not however be personally identified with specific individuals, their soberly sculpted faces often inscribed in a rounded mass, sketching absolutely no features, thus perpetuating the mystery, the anonymity, and opening the field of the possible representation not personal but universal. Planted in the ground in the middle of a village or in the concession of a chief, the statue was destined to sink little by little into the ground and thus to disappear, eaten away at the base by xylophagous insects and humidity, eroded by the winds laden with sand and the abundant rains, baked by the implacable sun of the region. A sculptural and ritual symbolism, faithfully linked to the funerary rite of the Moba who, in the past, buried their great chiefs vertically, in the wells, in order to allow them to reconnect with Mother Earth. This is a beautiful example, carved in a beautifully eroded wood, with a light, honey-colored patina. The abdomen, which narrows at the waist, is framed by short arms, and the pelvis flares out delicately to form small legs, thus accentuating the movement of the hips.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue