Tabouret tripode, vraisemblablement par Sikiré Kambiré , Lobi, Gaoua, Burkina Faso

William Wright, New York
Collection Thomas G.B. Wheelock, New York

Roy & Wheelock, Land of The Flying Masks, Art and Culture in Burkina Faso, The Thomas G.B. Wheelock Collection, 2007, p. 371, n° 536

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Selon Piet Meyer (1981, p. 141, n° 189), ce très beau tabouret serait vraisemblablement l'œuvre du sculpteur Sikiré Kambiré (1896-1963). La main de ce talentueux artiste de Gaoua se reconnaît dans le style et la grande maîtrise de la tête Janus, et dans la superbe tension unissant dans un même mouvement le corps stylisé en position semi-allongée et les deux visages opposés.

Réservés à certains chefs de familles, les tabourets tripodes daàka les plus élaborés, comme ici « recouverts d'une patine foncée et luisante, et garnis d'une poignée magistralement sculptée, sont étroitement liés au rituel initiatique septennal du joro et employés uniquement à cette occasion » (Daniela Bognolo, 2007, p. 135).