Superb museum quality Kulango Kulongo female statue Ivory Coast African Art

Superb and rare museum quality Kulango Kulongo female wooden statue Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire

Statues from the Kulango people are rare !

For sale at Art Gallery Decoster Belgium

Tribe : Kulango / Kulongo
Country : Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire
Length : 34,5 cm (with wooden base = 39,5 cm)
Traces of bleu and white pigments / Old coloured glass beads
Ca 1900 / early 20th century

Rare female wooden statue from the Kulango tribe located in Ivory Coast. The Kulango people are located near the border with Ghana in Africa. The Kulango are matrilinear. They believe in a supreme god who is not worshipped but is addressed in association with "mother earth." The earth god, Tano, is a god of the whole tribe.

There is a shrine set up for Tano, and a yearly festival is held in his honor. During disasters or hard times, the Kulango pray to the spirits of their ancestors and make offerings of mashed yams. The spirits are believed to inhabit certain wild animals as well as various objects of nature: thunder, lightning, water, etc.

The Kulango celebrate many festivals, such as the annual yam festival. This is a time when parents and children exchange gifts then eat a meal of mashed yams and soup. There is also a festival for the dead, in which the gods and ancestors are asked for guidance and prosperity. Dances and singing are part of both festivals.

Kulango statuary is rare, and often presented as derived from and strongly influenced by Lobi art. Only characterizations of the stylistic order allow such a hypothesis to be advanced, as information pertaining to the context of its use is wanting.