A Moba female shrine figure, Togo

tchitcherik sakwa.

Lucien van de Velde, Brussels
Pierre Loos, Brussels
James Willis, San Francisco, 2008

Tribal & Textile Arts Show: Fine Art of Native cultures, San Francisco, California, February 2008

Arts & Cultures, Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, no. 1, 2000, p. 191 (James Willis advertisement)
Tribal & Textile Arts 2008, San Francisco, 2008

Fragmentary, very weathered and eroded throughout as seen in catalogue photograph. The interior is partially hollow with deep age/weathering cracks throughout, some on one side (front and back) with open gaps and losses. Possible insect damage to bottom portion and interior. On custom base with form-fitting post conforming to underside/interior (removable). Stable and very attractive.
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Regarding the rare tchitcheri sakab (singular tchitcherik sakwa) shrine figures from the Moba of northeastern Ghana and northwestern Togo, Christine Mullen Kreamer ("Moba Shrine Figures," in African Arts, February 1987, volume XX, no. 2, p. 54) notes:  "These impressive carvings...are planted in the ground at least to groin level and sometimes to midwaist.  They represent and are named after ancient clan ancestors of particular districts, villages, or sections of villages...Local clan histories claim that each of the wooden carvings was planted by the founding clan ancestor himself, or his son, which suggests that these figures could be up to two hundred years old, as the Moba believe them to be. Given the relatively dry climactic conditions of northern Togo and the fact that all shrine figures are carved of a dense hardwood, it is not unreasonable to posit such an age."

The highly reductive style of the few known tchitcheri sakab is typical of Moba carving, featuring a blank ovoid head, a flared ring around the neck, and generalized sloping shoulders. Although smaller Moba figures appear with male or female attributes and are stylistically linked to the massive tchitcheri, the present figure, with small protruding breasts, is the only large-scale female tchitcherik known.