Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)

Arts of Africa

Late 19th or early 20th century

Lobi
Burkina Faso
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Among the Lobi and their neighbors, protective spirits associated with families and the land reside in shrines 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. Offerings of chicken blood, millet beer, and shea butter are applied to the sculpture to ensure the benevolence of the spirit world.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Lobi
Title: Female Figure (Bateba Phuwe)
Place: Burkina Faso (Object made in)
Date: 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

Mary Nooter Roberts and Allen F. Roberts, A Sense of Wonder: African Art from the Faletti Family Collection (Phoenix: Phoenix Art Museum, 1997), pg. 62, fig. 9.
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 6, pp. 38-39.

Phoenix Art Museum, A Sense of Wonder: African Art from the Faletti Family Collection, Dec. 13, 1997-Feb. 8, 1998, cat. 9; traveled to Chicago, The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, May 14-June 28, 1998, Urbana-Champaign, Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sept. 18-Nov. 1, 1998, New York, N.Y., The Museum for African Art, Jan. 29-Mar. 28, 1999, Davenport Museum of Art, Apr. 18-June 13, 1999, New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Sept. 12-Nov. 24, 1999, and The Boise Art Museum, Feb. 26-May 7, 2000.
Art Institute of Chicago, African Artistry: Gifts from the Faletti Family Collection, Oct. 5–May 18, 2003, Gallery 142, no. cat.

Eric Robertson, Robertson African Arts, New York, N.Y., by 1982 [this and the following according to object inventory card of R. Faletti, copy in curatorial file]; sold to Richard J. Faletti (died 2006), Faletti Family Collection, Phoenix, Az., Oct. 1982; given to the Art Institute, 2002.

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.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

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.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

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.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Related artworks

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

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.