Seated female shrine figure

Carved in a naturalistic style, this female figure sits on a round stool with her hands resting on her knees. She stares intently at the viewer, her mouth open as if she were speaking. The scarification decorating her face and body may signify her affiliation with a particular family or lineage, or successful initiation into a possession cult called Anjenu.

The Igede peoples believe disease, infertility, and disorder are caused by the anjenu, nature spirits that reside in fast-flowing rivers and streams or massive anthills. When the spirits invade a village, the Igede erect a shrine to appease them and furnish it with vessels of sacred water, a magical substance (eka), and sacrificial food. Clay lions or leopards representing strong and powerful wild animals along with specially carved wooden figures said to portray devotees of Anjenu also populate the shrine. The Igede believe combining sculpture with singing honors the spirits more effectively than simply performing the ritual with sacred water.(6)

Although this enshrined figure was probably viewed from the front, it was conceived as a three-dimensional form. Viewed from the front, the figure's torso appears to be an elongated cylinder; from the side, the form slopes to a point just beyond her breasts and her feet. The figure's generous buttocks rest solidly on a cylindrical stool. Clearly, it was meant to be viewed from all angles. Traces of pigment remain on the figure. When the sculpture was in use, her coiffure and body were regularly refreshed with applications of white kaolin clay and ochre, respectively.

The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art, cat. 44, pp. 146.

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NOTES:

6. Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. “Anjenu: Sculpture for Idoma Water Spirits.” African Arts 15, no. 4 (August 1982). pp. 45–51, 91–92.

Sidney Kasfir, personal communication, 4 November 2005.

Nicholls, Robert. “Igede Funeral Masquerades.” African Arts 7, no. 3 (May 1984). pp. 70-76, 92.

Igede serves as a cultural corridor between Ogoja and Idomaland. The Igede peoples of Nigeria’s Benue State are located both culturally and geographically in the shatter zone north of the middle Cross River bordering on the tropical forest. The Idoma peoples live to the northwest. The Anjenu possession cult is common to both groups.