LOBI - IVORY COAST - Lot 67

Lot 67
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Estimation :
100 - 200 EUR
LOBI - IVORY COAST - Lot 67
LOBI - IVORY COAST Standing fetish in carved wood Height : 58 cm Height : 58 cm Note : The long-necked heads and the complete figures, which the Lobi people keep in special sanctuaries, are used to ward off evil spells, diseases and the malevolent activities of sorcerers. Lobi sculpture is a relatively recent discovery. The Lobi do not use masks but create figures called bateba and heads carved on top of a stake planted in the ground. These figures associated with the dead are beings situated between the spirits and men and can represent the dead, the ghosts or the spirits of the bush. Their size varies between 30 and 80 cm. The statues preside over the foundation rites that are essential to obtain the protection of new houses: a Lobi changes residence about three times during his life. Long figures or heads in the round surround the altars of the sacred huts: they have a hieratic character with a high, distant forehead, the eyelids falling on eyes with an absent gaze, the triangular nose, straight, the lips deformed by the labret that Lobi women wore, a sort of disc inserted in the upper lip. The Lobi sculpture does not offer the seductive aspect of those from the Ivory Coast or Zaire where the surface of the wood is polished and coated with a shiny and lustrous patina. Here, the raw wood appears unvarnished.
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