一件木雕作品 - 恋物癖 - Fon - 多哥 (没有保留价)

Fon fetish sculpture, Southern region, Togo. Incl stand.

The sculpture is conceived on a principle of dense accumulation and concealment. It consists of a central anthropomorphic wooden figure, from which only the main head emerges at the top. Around its body is clustered a compact group of several other small wooden statuettes, cylindrical in shape and bound together. The dominant head presents a serene face with precisely sculpted features. The top of the skull is crowned by a circular headdress inlaid with regularly arranged cowrie shells. The face displays vertical and horizontal linear scarifications on the cheeks and forehead, marks of clan or ritual identity. The cluster of secondary figurines is literally imprisoned and bound together by a complex network of rope ties and rusted iron chains that encircle the entire piece. In Bocio sculpture, these metal restraints and ropes symbolize the capture, channeling, and control of spiritual forces or protection against invisible attacks (witchcraft). Numerous cowrie shells (ritual shells formerly used as currency and offerings) are attached at various levels to the ropes and to the torsos of the small statuettes. At the shoulders of the main structure, prominent metal elements and wrought-iron rods resembling brooches or giant nail heads are visible. The entire piece exhibits a very dark, crusty, opaque patina, with cracks visible at the temple. This appearance is a direct result of the repeated application of ritual coatings (sacrificial blood, palm oil, crushed herbs, and terracotta decoctions) that bind the elements together and imbue the object with its active mystical charge.

Blier, Suzanne Preston (1995). African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. University of Chicago Press. (The definitive and most comprehensive work on the aesthetics, psychology, and profound meaning of hoarding art and bocio among the Fon).

Kerchache, Jacques (1996). Voodoo: Vodun. Paris: Éditions de la Martinière. (A masterful catalogue devoted exclusively to ritual pieces from Benin and Togo, highlighting the artistic genius of Fon accumulative fetishes.)
Preston, George Nelson (1985). Sets, Series, and Ensembles in African Art. New York: The Center for African Art. (A theoretical study of African sculptures incorporating multiple compositions, chains, and agglomerated figures.)
Savary, Claude (1975). The Symbolic Thought of the Fon Through Their Statuary. Published in the Annual Bulletin of the Geneva Museum of Ethnography, no. 18, pp. 29–53. (An ethnological field analysis decoding the visual metaphors of rope, iron, and wood in the worship of Fon ancestors and deities.)
Beaujean-Baltzer, Gaëlle (2007). From trophy to artwork: The journey of five artifacts from the Kingdom of Dahomey. Published in the journal Gradhiva, no. 6, pp. 72-85. (A relevant scholarly article for understanding the historical context of the creation and circulation of power objects and bo figures from Dahomey).

The Fon people live in the Dahomey kingdom, which is part of the Republic of Benin. Oral tradition suggests the Dahomey kingdom was created by a Yoruba princess some time before the 17th century. During the 18th century, its territories expanded and they took part in the slave trade with the French colonials. Two categories of Fon objects can be distinguished. The first includes royal paraphernalia such as Icing figures, commemorative iron staffs, called Asen, small metal emblematic figures and sceptres decorated with a zoomorphic blade.

Lit.: Patrick Vilaire - Vodun Objects Excerpted from the catalog Vodun: African Voodoo, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 2011, Wolfgang Jaenicke, a Voodoo village in the borderdestrict of Benin - Togo.

"While the term Vodun has been translated by scholars in many ways over time, my sources have suggested that its origins lie in the phrase “rest to draw the water,” from the Fon verbs vo “to rest” anddun “to draw water,” referencing the necessity to remain calm when facing whatever difficulties may lie in one’s path." Read more: Wolfgang Jaenicke.

Lit.: Vaudou, Fondation Cartier pour lárt contemporain, 2011.
Suzanne Preston Blier, African Vodun. Art, Psychology, and Power, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995, 39 - 40.

This information is created by AI and based on published ethnographic and art-historical sources.


[Voodoo Flield photo (last photo sequence)]

Also of broader interest, are the specific aesthetic issues and the means through which these works come into being. Some artists historically have made a point of hiding the processes of their artistic engagement; others highlight the production processes involved. Bocio artists represent the latter group, providing these works with key attributes of raw energy and visual primacy that add to their larger significance. Bocio at the same time are collaborative arts, the product not only of the carver, but also of other individuals involved in their creation and the user himself. A close bond necessarily develops between the user and the variant artists and “activators” of the objects, reinforced by the acknowledged risk incurred in the very process of creating and empowering these objects...

Suzanne Preston Blier, African Vodun. Art, Psychology, and Power, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995, p. 39 à 40.- Excerpted from the catalog Vodun: African Voodoo,Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 2011.