250443 - Extremely Rare and Old African Moba or Bimoba bone statue - Togo.

Extremly Rare & Antique Moba or Bimoba Yendu Tchitcheri sculpture on stand from North Togo.
Size are 20.5 cm, including the stand.
More then 125 years old.
Beautiful Moba statue from the north of Togo in animal bone. The statue is alive and dynamic. It is skillfully reduced to the essence, a simple body in motion. The patina is exquisite. See photos, sold as is.

This Mona bone sculpture is dated end of the 19th century and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Moba sculptures, made of bone, Togo, Northern region.

The first Moba were introduced by Frobenius in the mid 19th century in Western ethnological museums, ended up in museum magazines, were forgotten and were rediscovered around the middle of the 20th century. This is clearly a very old figure that "survived" because it was brought into the shelter.
The Moba people, who live in the north of Togo on the border of Burkina Faso and Ghana, are known for their very abstract, human figures. A round, spherical head sits - in most cases without a neck - on an extremely simple, long, sexless body.

The Moba distinguish three variants of the same type, each according to size.
1: small figures made of bone, wood or iron. They are personal, individual protective figures and are placed on altars. They are called 'Yendu tchitcheri'.
2: medium-sized figures, made of wood, representing an important family ancestor. They are placed on the family’s home altar, are honored and receive offerings. They are called ‘Bavong tchitcheri’.
3: Large (almost life-size) wooden figures representing an important clan founder. They are placed outside and are supposed to protect the entire village. They are called ‘Sakab tchitcheri’.

In Moba communities in northeastern Ghana and northwestern Togo, diviners influence and direct the commissioning, design and ritual treatment of sculptural forms made for various types of domestic shrines.
Both the scale and the relatively abstract form of this particular work suggest that it was probably owned by an extended family or clan. It was associated with their origins and played a vital role in ensuring their collective well-being.

In Moba society, when ancestral offerings fail to provide the desired relief, an earth oracle of established repute is consulted. When advising individuals, families, or clans, Moba diviners prescribe tchitcheri figures to strengthen their clients and improve their lives. Such works enhance the effectiveness of ritual actions performed at shrines by evoking positive ancestral influences. They are protective and promote health and prosperity on several levels. When a particular problem disrupted an individual’s life, diviners often recommended that a figurative work be added to that person’s private shrine. Similarly, problems of broader significance, such as sick cattle, poor harvests, or infertility, often led diviners to prescribe that a larger work be commissioned for a family shrine.

Lit.: Erwin Melchardt: Moba, Togo: an ancestral and protective figure, ‘tchitcheri’. Schädler: Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture.