An Ewe power figure (Bochio) Wood, cowrie shells, gourds, ritual packets, fibres, pigments and sacrificial materials Ewe people, Aného region, village of Aklakou, Togo Incl stand This Ewe bochio (or bocio) is a powerful ritual figure whose efficacy resides less in the underlying carving than in the dense accumulation of ritual materials that envelop its body. Created for use within the Vodun religious tradition of southern Togo, such figures were commissioned from ritual specialists and activated through elaborate consecration ceremonies. Once empowered, they served as protectors against witchcraft, disease, misfortune and spiritual aggression, while also enforcing oaths or safeguarding individuals and families. The sculpture retains an extraordinary assemblage of original ritual attachments. Around the torso are tightly bound numerous cowrie shells, once highly valued as currency and universally associated with prosperity, fertility and communication with the spirit world. Large seed pods, gourds and carved wooden containers are secured to the chest, each originally holding medicinal compounds (dzoka) prepared according to secret prescriptions. Smaller packets wrapped in cloth and fibre contain additional ritual ingredients whose composition was known only to the officiating priest. The projecting element emerging from the mouth probably represents a ritual tube or whistle associated with speech, breath and the transmission of spiritual force. Among the Ewe, the spoken invocation of sacred formulas formed an essential component of activating a bochio, and objects connected with the mouth often symbolized the efficacy of ritual speech. Red fibre bindings remain visible throughout the assemblage, securing the amuletic elements while simultaneously reinforcing their spiritual cohesion. Unlike sculptures intended primarily for aesthetic contemplation, Ewe power figures were conceived as living ritual instruments. Their appearance evolved continuously as new medicines, sacrificial substances and protective objects were added over many years of ceremonial use. Every attached shell, gourd and bundle records a specific intervention in the object's ritual life, transforming the sculpture into a cumulative archive of religious practice. Examples preserving such an extensive and coherent assemblage of original attachments are exceptionally uncommon. Because organic materials—including gourds, fibre bindings, cloth packets and medicinal substances—are highly vulnerable to deterioration, many comparable figures have survived only as stripped wooden carvings. The remarkable state of preservation of this bochio offers a rare insight into the complexity of Ewe ritual technology and the material expression of Vodun belief in southern Togo. Selected Literature Blier, Suzanne Preston. African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. Chicago, 1995. Rosenthal, Judy. Possession, Ecstasy and Law in Ewe Voodoo. Charlottesville, 1998. Maupoil, Bernard. La Géomancie à l'ancienne Côte des Esclaves. Paris, 1943. Cole, Herbert M., and Chike C. Aniakor. Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos. Although devoted to a neighbouring cultural sphere, includes comparative discussions of West African ritual sculpture and shrine assemblages. Selected Regional References Comparable Ewe and Fon bochio figures from the Aného and coastal Togo region are preserved in the collections of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (Paris), the Weltmuseum Wien, and the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (Cologne), illustrating the diversity of Vodun power figures employing cowries, gourds, medicinal packets and accumulated ritual materials. Some of the information is generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history. Inv. No. MAZ23800 Informant: Batoure