Anthropozoomorphic altar figure, Attiol (a-Tshol), Baga... - Lot 93 - Giquello

Lot 93
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Estimation :
35000 - 40000 EUR
Anthropozoomorphic altar figure, Attiol (a-Tshol), Baga... - Lot 93 - Giquello
Anthropozoomorphic altar figure, Attiol (a-Tshol), Baga Sitému or Mandori, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Wood H. 74 cm Attiol (a-Tshol) anthropozoomorphic altar figure, Baga Sitému or Mandori, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea H. 29 in Tshol were already known at the end of the 19th century (the one in the Musée de l'Homme in 1883), others in very small numbers arrived between the two wars (the one in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse acquired in 1937, from the H. Labouret mission) but these are not known. Labouret) but these were only really known to amateurs at the end of the 1950s. The protective spirit a-Tshol had several functions and was capable of detecting evil bush genies, crimes, healing as well as participating in the initiation ceremonies of young people. It was the most respected object of the clan. Hidden in the sacred house of the clan or of the ancestors and placed on a platform because it was never to be placed on the ground, it was under the constant guard of a fetishist/healer. This a-Tshol is presented as an openwork human head, prolonged by a long bird's or crocodile's beak on a slender neck resting on a large cylindrical base. It is in turn surmounted by a similar small head looking in the opposite direction. This iconographic rarity gives it the appearance of a bird on the ground in profile. The piece is constructed in two monoxylean parts: on one side, the head with the beak and neck, and on the other the base. Like other Tshol, this one must have had animal horns in the cut-out parts of the head and beak, filled with a magical substance. The surface patina was traditionally nourished with kola nut juice and palm oil and wine. This a-Tshol is aesthetically one of the beautiful testimonies of this very important archaic Baga cult
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