LOBI HEADS ARCHIVES


The heads below have been sold and are left here for reference and educational purposes.

LOBI
Head 18
18"
SOLD

 

LOBI
Head 113
17" high
SOLD

LOBI
Head 1
16" high
SOLD

  LOBI
Head 82
14.5" high
SOLD

  LOBI
Head 124
19" high
SOLD




LOBI
Head 123
17" high
SOLD

  LOBI
Head 124
19" high
SOLD

LOBI STYLE
Head 80
12" high
SOLD

 LOBI STYLE
Head 122
19.5" high
SOLD

Photographs © Hamill Gallery

Lobi figures are the enigmatic, brooding sculpture that protect the Lobi people of Burkina Faso. Ranging in size from 7 - 47" high, 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. Heads were used similarly to the figures.

The figures or heads were placed on family altars in the thilda, a small sacristy or room in each dwelling. Each figure or head 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.

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