Bateba Female Statuette – Lobi – Burkina Faso – Early 20th Century – Primitive / Tribal Art

Statuette depicting a young naked woman standing, supported by sturdy legs. One of her hands is placed on her lower abdomen, the other on her chin, in a symbolic gesture. She has a nostalgic expression. Her eyes are wide open and her head is shaved. Hardwood, old red and brown patina, signs of use. Lobi, Burkina Faso, early 20th century Dimensions: 13 x 3.4 cm – With base: 15.5 cm Provenance: former collection in northern France. Sold with a certificate of authenticity from the expert Serge Reynes, guaranteeing origin and period. * Shipping costs on estimate. "Among the Lobi of Burkina Faso, statuettes called bateba were sculpted by fetish priests on the instructions of the thila (protective spirit). They embodied a specific function according to their gestures. This one, with its singular gesture – hand on the belly, hand on the chin – could synthesize two distinct figures: on one side, the Bateba Yadawora, expressing grief or sadness, and on the other the Bateba Ti Bala, linked to motherhood and fertility. This statuette would represent a woman suffering from inability to conceive, whose image the fetish priest would have sculpted in order to solicit the protection of invisible forces. Through its introspective gesture and its hand placed on the belly, it embodies both pain and hope. It would have been intended to attract fertility, to protect a future pregnancy and to open the way to the joy of future motherhood."