Sophie Peckel
Sale Coordinator & Client Liaison
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Lot 57
FON FIGURE, REPUBLIC OF BENIN
17 December 2024, 16:00 CET
Brussels, Chaussée de CharleroiSold for €6,400 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our African and Oceanic Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
Emilie Jolly
Head of Department
Tim Teuten
Consultant
Brussels
FON FIGURE, REPUBLIC OF BENIN
bocio
wood, rope, duck skull and bill, jawbone, hair, feathers, plants, clay, sacrificial patina
Height 23 cm
Provenance
Anne & Jacques Kerchache, Paris
Literature
Bethenod, M. (ed.), Jacques Kerchache, portraits croisés, Paris, 2003, p.170
Kerchache, J. et al., Vaudou, Paris, 2011, p.41, fig.3, p.71, and p.208, fig.12
Bassani, E., and Pezzoli, G., Ex Africa, Storie e identità di un'arte universale, Milan, 2019, p.329, fig.VIII.17
Exhibited
Paris, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Vaudou, Paris, 5 April - 25 September 2011
Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Ex Africa, Storie e identità di un'arte universale, 29 March - 8 September 2019
wood, rope, duck skull and bill, jawbone, hair, feathers, plants, clay, sacrificial patina
Height 23 cm
Provenance
Anne & Jacques Kerchache, Paris
Literature
Bethenod, M. (ed.), Jacques Kerchache, portraits croisés, Paris, 2003, p.170
Kerchache, J. et al., Vaudou, Paris, 2011, p.41, fig.3, p.71, and p.208, fig.12
Bassani, E., and Pezzoli, G., Ex Africa, Storie e identità di un'arte universale, Milan, 2019, p.329, fig.VIII.17
Exhibited
Paris, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Vaudou, Paris, 5 April - 25 September 2011
Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, Ex Africa, Storie e identità di un'arte universale, 29 March - 8 September 2019
Footnotes
Jacques Kerchache, writing about this figure states: 'These statuettes with a stake-leg planted in the ground are typical of variable and multi-use objects. The pegs are attached together and are inserted into the figure's body near the ears, in the chest and in the pelvis. The statuettes are covered with sacrificial blood and are used to induce all kinds of disorders in the adversary: speechlessness, suffocation, stomachaches, sterility. The jaw tied to the body signifies the desire to hush up and unwanted witness. When the pegs are removed, the enemy recovers the ability to speak or no longer suffers. The little sticks were later replaced by locks. For this sort of operation to have any effect, of course, the adversary had to be aware of it' (Kerchache, J. et al., Vaudou, Paris, 2011, p.40).
Gabin Djimassé writes: 'This multifunctional piece, is used like the other pegged statuettes to prevent of forbid events or desires from becoming reality. The peg inserted into the ear area keeps the person or people for whom this statuette is intended from acting, by causing them serious hearing problems. In the same way, the peg inserted into the stomach can induce digestive problems. The peg situated into the leg area can lead to partial or generalized paralysis. This type of of sculpture is rare because it is very dangerous. The statue is also a kpodohonme'. (op.cit., p.207)
Additional information
Bid now on these items
