LOBI |
Staff 3 27" high $2000 |
LOBI |
Staff 3 27" high $2000 |
Figure 104 10.75" high $600 |
Figure 105 10" high $ 600 |
The figures below have been vetted as being authentic with signs of use and age.
Figure 94 10.5" $800 |
LOBI |
The figures below have been vetted as being authentic.
Figure 128 19.25" high $400 |
Lobi Figures are the enigmatic, brooding sculpture that protect the Lobi people of Burkina Faso. Most are frontal, symmetrical and timeless sentinels expressing the traditional beliefs of the Lobi. Several depart from the norm with animated gestures, asymmetry or a great degree of symbolic abstraction.
The figures were placed on family altars in the thilda, a small sacristy
or room in each dwelling. Each figure was not a representation but an actual
spirit, or tibil thil. It protected the family and home from illness
and other misfortunes. The spirit could also be used for divination; it
could demand offerings and additions of other figures. The accumulation
of statues on a family altar gave social status and were passed on from
father to son. Most were frontal and symmetrical, but some have unusually
animated gestures.
TRIBE |
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