A male Lobi sculpture, Ghana, standing on his thick two legs, his bust is rather stout, with a protruding navel, the arms are stuck to its body, culminating in a thinner upper chest, the small neck carried an egg shape head, large, with well carved features composed of a mouth, stout nose and almond shaped eyes, no traces of hair; cracks and incrusted with ritual use.

“Major Lobi statuary is discrete at first glance. Its lines are pure and simple, embellishments are absent, and the patina is dry. The thílkòtína are usually the most remarkable works. They are representations of “accomplished ancestors”, and survive now as individual parts of the couples they once were and that time separated. Indeed, the word thílkòtína does not appear to exist in the singular. Upon reading the text by Viviane Baeke which follows, one comes to understand that these figures are the culmination of a long process of ancestralization, whose completion also represented a milestone in the careers of the ritualist sculptors who created them. It is interesting to note that the most outstanding examples of such figures are also most often those that appear to be the oldest. There were many figures - some were more ephemeral, and did not have to be so flawlessly executed. Supremely subtle and spare, Lobi art’s brilliance stays hidden - hidden as it originally was in the shadows of a thílduù, the altar sanctuary to which only the head of household had access, and hidden today from the eyes of most people, having remained nearly entirely ignored by anthologies and publications on African art. The times in which Lobi art was considered relatively minor have come to an end, and it now deserves to accede to its rightful place in the pantheon of recognized classical African art forms”

Source: Whispering Woods, The Great Lobi Statuary from the François & Marie Christiaens Collection.

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Height: 21 cm
Weight: 160 g