A male Igbo Alusi sculpture, Nigeria. Lightbrown pigment on parts of the body and white kaolin on the face, hands and genitalila. slight use and age related damage on feet. "These imposing figures, from eastern Nigeria, are at the heart of Igbo belief systems, associated with tributary deities known as Alusi. Kept in shrines as a group sometimes as large as twelve, the figures were thought of as family members of the Alusi ... A priest was responsible for their care as they interceded in cases of infertility and other social disorders. While the face and torso show a high level of detailed carving, the hands and feet are defined in a schematic manner as is customary in Alusi figures from the Onitsha region. Especially characteristic are the upturned hands, as a sign of openhandedness and generosity of the deities, as well as willingness to receive offerings." Source: The Met Museum, NY reference: Leuzinger, Elsy, and Walter Bangerter. Afrikanische Kunstwerke: Kulturen am Niger. Recklinghausen: A. Bongers, 1971. CAB42061