The 250,000 Lobi are divided among Ghana,
Ivory Coast & Burkina Faso. Each household leader is subordinate to
a thila, an invisible protective spirit who communicates through the
intermediary of diviners. It is the thila who dictates taboos and who
requires the creation of a new wooden figure for the village or house-
hold shrine. Lobi sculpture was only discovered in the 1950's.The
Lobi do not use masks but create figures called bateba & heads
sculpted on top of a post planted in the ground. These figures, are
beings that are somewhere between spirits & people & may represent
the dead or bush spirits. The bateba belongs to the thila & carries out
their orders to defend the territory against evil & to protect their
owners from harm.
Ex. Leonard Kahan Gallery, New York 1992 and Ex. Christopher and Genevieve McConnell collection.
Very eroded, and missing feet front left and back right.
Height: 14 ½" x Width: 4 ½" x Depth: 3" - Height on the 4 11/16" x 4" base is 14 ¾".
