Description:

Africa, Ivory Coast, Senufo people, ca. 20th century CE. A haunting and powerful cloth and wooden figure with articulated limbs - including club-like arms - and a spray of feathers sprouting from the top of its head. The figure's face is shrouded in cloth and it is painted overall dark brown. This type of figure is known as Kafigeledjo, "he who speaks the truth". It is meant to represent a bush spirit and can be used as a divination device, specifically to seek out lies and deception. Size: 7.5" W x 33" H (19 cm x 83.8 cm)

The curatorial team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art describes a similar Kafigeledjo thusly: "this oracle figure deliberately provokes anxiety through its shrouded anonymity and the sense of suffocation and entrapment it suggests" (see: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310949). Access to these oracle figures is restricted to the most senior male and female members of a kinship group, who keep it a secret.

Provenance: private Alan Davis collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

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#122466

  • Condition: Figure has wear to paint and chips to wood.

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May 18, 2017 7:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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