Rare leather figure "ikpa woro" - Nigeria, Tiv

leather, wool, metal, custom mount
Only a few of these striking figures made of leather are known (see AHDRC 0100484, 0157156, 0171493).
R.C. Abraham acquired a "leather statue" in 1931, when he was district commissioner among the Tiv, near Makurdi. The piece is now in the British Museum in London (see AHDRC 0100432) and is in the same style as the present figure.
We have no specific information on how these figures were used, but they seem to have been associated with the "biamehg" funeral ceremonies.
H: 71/ 81 cm, H: 71/ 31,9 inch
Provenance:
Belgian Collection
Richard E. Ulevitch, La Jolla, USA
Sotheby's Paris, 14 December 2016, Lot 73
AHDRC: 0137571
Lit.: Lebas, Alain (ed.), Arts of Nigeria in French Private Collections, Milan 2012, p. 281, ill. 141
Continent: Africa
Condition Report: See description