Tribal Art

African puppet figure with articulated arms thanks to long nails. This statue offers a thick, goitrous neck, carrying a spherical head which seems topped with a cap. The sagging breasts, of low relief, are inscribed on the bust. The powerful legs, devoid of feet, are wide apart. A partially chipped kaolin film covers some areas. Numerous erosions.
Peoples with varied traditions have settled in the savannah north of the Niger and Benué rivers. The Tiv from Cameroon are made up of farmers living on the banks of the left bank of the Benué. Their statues are of two types: of a naturalistic type, these figures take the form of female representations, some of which formed the top of the posts of reception huts. The second, called ihambé , associated with fertility, represent seated figures.
Witchcraft, in the hands of the ancients through fetishes, permeates Tiv society. The protective fetishes for family use akumbo are kept in individual huts. It is during births, hunting and agrarian rituals that their role comes into play. They are also supposed to protect against the old transformed into geniuses of nature adzov , the latter being able to arouse the madness, the silence or the handicap of the children. The atsuku fetishes associated with hunting and circumcision, individual and collective, are adorned with protective virtues. They are small in size and come in summary forms.