Lobi thilkotina statue, Burkina Faso Wood H. 89... Lot 45

Lobi thilkotina statue, Burkina Faso Wood H. 89 cm Provenance : Franco Monti Collection, Italy Joaquin Pecci Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Bibliography : Bognolo Daniela, 2007, Lobi, Milan, Editions 5 continents, p.149. Giving more importance to dynamic volumes than to purity of form, Lobi statuary constitutes a rich corpus, whose sculptural quintessence is expressed through the great statues of thilkotina ancestors fashioned by thiteldara kotina master sculptors. These communal effigies, representing the clan's ancestors, are kept by family heads in a dedicated room within soukala homes. In contrast to the rigorous, long, angular volumes of the limbs, the curvature of the buttocks and the roundness of the abdomen with its protruding umbilicus are exalted by the superb arch of the back. The head, with its impenetrable face imbued with serenity, is raised towards the sky, in an attitude symbolizing the effigy's powerful and sacred link with clan spiritual entities.