The Sakalava, on the western coast of the island of Madagascar, bury their dead in wooden tombs in the forest. Figures carved from wood stand on all four corners or in the middle of the side edges of these graves: large birds, individual persons, mothers with children or erotic scenes, such as the present one, depicting a man and a woman in a sexual embrace. The deeper meaning of such images is to promote the rebirth of the dead in the world of the ancestors.
The present erotic funerary figure depicts a woman and a man kneeling behind her in an intimate embrace. Both figures feature characteristic, globular Sakalava coiffures. The man’s head is slightly turned to the left turned, and he wears a typical, ‘magic’ amulet horn, called ‘Ody’ or ‘Mohara’, on his back. The entire sculpture is carved from a single piece of very hard, heavy wood.
This rare Sakalava sculpture has only minor age-related damage (small tears to the rectangular plinth and to the figures) and light grey patina from weathering (since sculptures of this type are always kept outdoors).
First half of the 20th century; H: 44 cm. (ME)

Lit.: 'Die Kunst des schwarzen Afrika' by Kerchache, Paudrat, Stephan, fig. 824, 825, 1069; 'Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture' by K.-F. Schädler, fig. p. 400, 401.