250891 - Old & extremly rare African Chamba sculpture - Nigeria.

Old & extremly rare African Chamba sculpture - Nigeria.

size; 70 cm including the stand and 62 cm without the stand.

This Chamba sculpture are dated mid 20th century and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

A very good artistic synthesis of lines and shapes that are still figurative. A high degree of verticality in the composition, based on the central axis. The arms, torso, neck/head, and legs are aligned with the central axis. Softly finished with spoon-shaped hands. Interesting chains of small colored beads around the neck and waist. A small hollow at the top of the head.

The Chamba, whose number today is estimated at 20,000, live south of the Benue River. They are socially divided into small centralized kingdoms, each headed by a king assisted by a council of elders whose powers are regulated by male and female secret societies. The Chamba kings are also assisted by royal women who serve as queens. After circumcision, young boys received an initiation that included the teaching of secrets. Each clan kept the skulls of ancestors, who were responsible for the prosperity and fertility of the lineage. Besides celebrating the ancestors, the vara cult celebrated the tutelary spirit, a personification of the first mala, or the paternal aunt of the chief. At the time of the masked celebration, she appeared in public, as well as at the funerals of members of the lineage; she would dress in the guise of a masked man in a fiber costume. 

Chamba figures are rare and their function uncertain. They are usually covered with an encrusted patina. One type of Chamba figure is thought to be a medium for communication with the spirit world. Small figures were used to cure or protect an individual from snake bites and were attached to iron spikes and inserted into the ground. There is originality in the way the arms are joined to the shoulders: the wide hands separated from the body are sometimes united by a base that cuts through the thighs, the feet reappearing below it. The geometric facial features contribute to an impression of power. Other powerful objects owned by Chamba clan organizations, are linked to their secret knowledge of remedies for illnesses and misfortunes. Among these highly charged works may be ceramics, brass figurines, and musical instruments. All are kept hidden in a bundle or under a large pot. The unseen presence of this sacred material transforms the pot or bundle into an altar, a place of contact between natural and supernatural worlds.