Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)
Lobi
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.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
160161
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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.