Smashing Hermaphrodite Ancestral Figure - reddish hardwood of great density of the Khaya senegalensis tree - Jukun - Nigeria

Smashing Hermaphrodite Ancestral Figure – Jukun – Nigeria In fine state with a beautiful age patina. It dates to the 1920-1930 period. Provenance: Ex – collection of Martial Bronsin, Gallery Impasse St. Jacques, Brussels. Bought from him by H. Westerdijk in 1979. About the function of Jukun figures, it can be said that they represent primordial ancestors dating back to the origin of things living and dead. These sculptures were taken out of their shelters during funerals, agricultural festivals and in times of danger. Then they received offerings and were being carried around in the villages. They were thought to protect the people and it were the local priests who served these figures with libations and who made contact through them with the world of the dead. After a process of islamization set in during the 1960s, they were mostly abandoned and sold to foreigners. The figure is highly characteristic of its kind with large earplugs and a protruding face with bulging eyes. The figure combines breasts with a three-pronged goatee. The tattoos under the eyes and around the corners of the mouth reminds one of Chamba pieces. The elongated torso has long arms and strongly shortened legs. Very fine age patina on hardwood; crusty in places. Literature: Marla C. Berns and Richard Fardon (eds.) : Arts de la Vallée de la Bénoué, Paris, 2012, pp. 84 ff. Dimensions: 64 x 16 x 17 cm People/ Region: The Jukun live in the area of the Benue River Valley of Central Eastern Nigeria. Material: reddish hardwood of great density of the Khaya senegalensis tree. Weight: 3. 15 kg. Sold with handwritten declaration of authenticity by Dr. P. Westerdijk, museum ethnologist and cultural anthropologist specialized, for over 50 years now, in the study of the material cultures in African nations that live south of the Sahara.