 Bocchio Posts 1 |
 Bocchio Posts 1 |
 Bocchio Posts 1 |
 Fetish Figures |
 Fetish Figures |
Bocchio Posts 1 |
Bocchio Posts 1 |
Bocchio Posts 1 |
Fetish Figures |
Fetish Figures |
  
Staffs |
Rattles |
  
Asen Staffs |
 Fetish Figures |
 Fetish Figures |
 Fetish Figures |
 Fetish Figures |
 Asen Staffs |
 Iron Figures |
 Shields |
 Iron Figure 13 |
 FON Leopards 1 SOLD |
|
Couples SOLD |
Staffs made of iron and brass were displayed in royal compounds to affirm
kingly power. Usually depicting a king with related motifs, they were called
"Asen" and commemorated past rulers. Some are more abstract or
depict birds and served another function. The staffs were stuck in the earth,
ours have black metal bases (included).
Figure posts like these, Boccio, were placed outdoors and sunk into the
earth, becoming wonderfully aged by exposure. Despite their small scale,
they seem to gain a spiritual monumentality from being fused with the earth
and believed in by man. Standing at the entrance of a village, a courtyard,
a house, or a shrine, they served a protective function, barring the entrance
of evil spirits.
These were not portraits or specific spirits, rather, the carved figure in human form is a repository or decoy for a spiritual force. In this instance the carved figure is a kind of substitute or stalking horse for the people it is meant to protect. Here, as in much African art, the form of the sculpture is related more to ideas about reality, both visible and invisible, than to the literal representation of nature.
These boccio posts were often crudely worked. Many are carved by self-taught sculptors and lack refinement. Appropriate to their nature, which is nonhuman and nonspecific, and to their exposure to the elements, boccio figures seldom have individual characteristics or individual human embellishments such as coiffures or scarification.
The objects that are not posts are fetishes, believed to have powers to protect the owner and his family from misfortune and evil spirits. They are often used on altars and annointed with sacrifices.
TRIBE |
OBJECT |
