LOBI - IVORY COAST - Lot 80

Lot 80
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Estimation :
100 - 200 EUR
LOBI - IVORY COAST - Lot 80
LOBI - IVORY COAST Standing fetish in carved wood Height Height : 58 cm Note : The long-necked heads and the complete figures, which the Lobi people keep in special shrines, are used to ward off bad luck, illnesses 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, ghosts or 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 lifetime. Long figures or heads in the round surround the altars of the sacred huts: they have a hieratic character with a high, distant forehead, eyelids falling on eyes with an absent gaze, a triangular, straight nose, and lips deformed by the labret worn by Lobi women, a sort of disc inserted in the upper lip. The Lobi sculpture does not have the seductive appearance of those from the Ivory Coast or Zaire where the surface of the wood is polished and coated with a shiny patina. Here, the raw wood appears unvarnished.
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