The Fon are a large tribe (1.2 million) in today’s country of Benin (formerly Dahomey). The Fon constitute the centre of the so-called ‘voodoo cult’ in west Africa. This ‘voodoo’ religion (also called ‘vodun cult’) has a complex pantheon of gods with more than 260 gods and spirits. The many gods and spirits of the ‘voodoo’ are represented by the Fon as small, carved figures, the so-called ‘boccio’. These ‘boccio’ figures only become effective in a sacred sense when they are charged up with ‘magic material’ by the local ‘voodoo priest’ (‘Fa’). Then the ‘boccio’ are set up in the village or in shrines, receive sacrificial offerings and are venerated. The present ‘boccio’ figure of the ‘voodoo cult’ of the Fon conforms completely to the ‘classical’ type of such powerful sculptures of the ‘voodoo’: carved from a piece of wood, the figure stands with bent legs on a round plinth, with a long, rounded tenon at the bottom, by which it can be stuck into the ground in a public place, or set up on the altar of a ‘voodoo shrine’. The ‘boccio’ displays much ‘magic material’, tied on in ritual fashion by the ‘voodoo-priest’: on the front a sealed goat’s horn with a small ball, on the back two additional ‘magic balls’ and a small, woven basket. A very interesting object, with noticeable traces of use and patina.
Height: 59 cm (total); 30 cm (the figure alone).
First half of the 20th century. (ME)

Provenance:
German collection.

Lit.:
‘Die Kunst des Schwarzen Afrika’ by Kerchache, Paudrat, Stephan, ill. 407, 410, 411, 412; ‘The Tribal Arts of Africa’ by Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, p. 30, ill. B; ‘Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture’ by K.-F. Schädler, p. 236, 237.