A Moba bone couple, Northern region Ghana,

The Moba bone couple from Northern Ghana refers to a rare and spiritually significant sculptural form associated with the Moba people, who inhabit parts of northern Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Unlike the more widely known Moba tchitcheri (ancestral wooden figures), the bone couple sculptures are exceptionally rare and believed to serve deeply sacred purposes, often associated with ancestral veneration and protection1. These figures typically depict a male and female pair, symbolizing balance, fertility, lineage continuity, and the duality of human existence. Their material—bone—imbues them with added spiritual potency, as bones are seen as direct remnants of life and carriers of ancestral power2.
The paired nature of these figures reflects Moba cosmology, which emphasizes harmony between male and female forces in both social and spiritual life. Such objects were not created for aesthetic display but for ritual use by diviners or elders, often housed in shrines and involved in ceremonies intended to maintain health, fertility, or communal stability3. Their minimalist form—often abstracted and unadorned—echoes broader Moba sculptural aesthetics, where simplicity is valued as a reflection of purity and spiritual essence over worldly beauty.

Blier, Suzanne Preston. African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Homberger, Lorenz. Arts of Africa: 7000 Years of African Art. Prestel Publishing, 2007.

Robbins, Warren M., and Nancy Ingram Nooter. African Art in American Collections. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

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Height 17 cm / 18 cm
Weight: 210 g / 200 g