Lobi
Burkina Faso
Northern Africa and the Sahel
Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)
INV-1601
Lobi
Burkina Faso
Northern Africa and the SahelLate 19th or early 20th century
Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)
Lobi Burkina Faso Northern Africa and the Sahel →lobiArts of Africaafrican ArtNorthern Africa and the Sahelsculpturewood
Date
Late 19th or early 20th century
Medium
Wood and sacrificial material
Dimensions
78.8 × 17.2 × 17.8 cm (31 × 6 3/4 × 7 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
Among the Lobi and their neighbors, protective spirits associated with families and the land reside in shrines like the one pictured here that are filled with offerings of bottles, iron staffs, pottery vessels, clay figurines, and wooden statuary. A figure like this may be placed in such a shrine to serve as an assistant to the spirit. Devotees spread offerings of chicken blood, millet beer, and shea butter onto the sculpture to ensure the benevolence of the spirit world.
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