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Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)

A work made of wood and sacrificial material.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of wood and sacrificial material.

Date:

Late 19th or early 20th century

Artist:

Lobi
Burkina Faso
Northern Africa and the Sahel

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.

Status

On View, Gallery 137

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Lobi

Title

Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)

Place

Burkina Faso (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1801–1900

Medium

Wood and sacrificial material

Dimensions

78.1 × 20.3 × 15.2 cm (30 3/4 × 8 × 6 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection

Reference Number

2002.533

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/160161/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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