Togo, West Africa - circa 1930

Striking in form, of light highly textured wood, two highly stylized anthropomorphic figures carved by the Moba people in Togo, West Africa. These forms most probably we owned by a family or clan and played a vital role in assuring their collective well-being.

In Moba society, when ancestral offerings fail to provide an individual with desired relief, an earth oracle with an established reputation is consulted. These Moba diviners prescribe Tchitcheri figures to fortify their clients and improve their lives. Such works call forth positive ancestral influences, they are protective and promote health and prosperity on a range of different levels.

The highly standardized design of Tchitcheri reduces the human figure to an elemental form. Minimal attention is given to facial features, with a reductive figure the upper body forms a unified, continuous surface, with its arms held at its sides along the length of the torso. The trunk is represented as a recessed rectangle, it narrows and then flares outward slightly to suggest hips. Below, clothes pin like legs are carved as two separate prongs that taper off into narrowed stems. Throughout the weathered surface, abrasion and splits reveal the effects wrought upon the work over time.

Originally part of an extensive private collection coming from a colonial estate in West-Africa.

Dimensions: H 113 cm x W 22 cm x D 24 cm