Male Shrine Figure | Yale University Art Gallery

mid-20th century

These Lobi shrine figures probably portray Africans in European attire. Wearing European-style clothing was a common practice since the late nineteenth century. The couple are covered with sacrificial remains, which testifies to their use on a shrine as ancestor figures.

Medium: Wood
Dimensions: 23 × 5 × 4 1/2 in. (58.42 × 12.7 × 11.43 cm)
Credit Line: Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Collection
Accession Number: 2006.51.580
Geography: Burkina Faso
Culture: Lobi
Period: 20th century
Classification: Sculpture
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

James Willis, San Francisco: unknown date - May 29, 1992
Charles B. Benenson Collection, donated to Yale University Art Gallery in 2004

Bibliography

Frederick John Lamp, Amanda Maples, and Laura M. Smalligan, Accumulating Histories: African Art from the Charles B. Benenson Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2012), 316, ill.

"Acquisitions, July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2006): 222.

Object copyright

Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations), sculpture

Subject

hats men

Technical metadata and APIs

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