The Chamba people are a small ethnic group, who live in eastern Nigeria and across the border in Cameroon, south of the Benue River. Among their neighbours are the Mumuye and the Jukun. The present, pole-like and old double-figure of the Chamba is typical and very interesting: the Chamba people knew larger figures with human form and correct proportions. That type might have represented ancestor figures. In addition, the Chamba also had individual, smaller and pole-like figures that are much more abstract in design. They were called ‘Tauwa figures’. The male individual figures were called ‘Tauwa wandoa’, while the female figures were ‘Tauwa kendoa’. Sometimes they were fitted with iron spikes at the bottom, and were stuck into the ground in small huts, the ‘Wula Tauwa’. The ‘Tauwa figures’ were purely protective figures. They were supposed to protect against snake bites, provide general protection against evil, and they played a role during harvest festivals. Male and female double sculptures, like the present one, were also found amongst the Chamba. They must have been a variant of the ‘Tauwa’ figures. Much more is not known about them. Because the art of the Chamba only became known quite late, and around 1950/60 their independent sacred-ritual lifestyle was already disappearing.

The present, very rare double figure of the Chamba consists of one post, forked at the top, made of hard, light-coloured wood. Both of the upper ends of the post were three-dimensionally carved. At the right is the figure of a woman, at the left stands the man. Both are dyed red (on the head of the woman is some green) and both figures display the typical, starkly abstracted Chamba style: their shoulders project far forwards, and from there, their long, thin arms lie close against their equally elongated bodies. Hands are just sketched. At their inner elbows the man and woman are connected with a cord of thin, twisted copper wire which runs through burnt-in holes. Also, both of their outer elbows appear to have been pierced with a hot iron rod. On their backs, both figures display sketched, grooved back lines. This visibly old double figure of the Chamba also displays another peculiarity: both creatures, man and woman, wear on their anthropomorphic bodies, in place of their heads, the well-known large, helmet-like buffalo masks of the Chamba known as ‘Nam gbalang’. What this means is no longer clear... Due to age, this astounding double figure displays a few small areas of damage: on the head mask of the man, the buffalo horns are broken off at the back, as is also his right hand. The colour scuffing on all exposed edges and surfaces is also understandable, as are a few slight cracks (front and back) and a small loss (at the back), as well as the stark erosion of the hard wood, on the post at the bottom, where it was stuck into the ground for a very long time. Overall it is, however, a highly interesting, very rare object with excellent patina.
Height: 64 cm; width: c. 20 cm.
Early 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
German collection.

Lit.:
‘Die Kunst des schwarzen Afrika’ by Kerchache, Paudrat, Stephan, ill. 519, 520; ‘Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture’ by K.-F. Schädler, p. 143.