The Lobi (whose name literally means “children [lou] of the forest [bi]” in Lobiri ) were founded during the 18th century, when they moved to their current territory of Ghana, Togo and Burkina Faso. They are made up of various clans that can be differentiated artistically, and are intimately tied to their land in terms of mythology and material culture. The Mounhoun River is believed to symbolise the division between this world and the hereafter; many Lobi initiation rites take place on its banks, and the animals which frequent the area are considered sacred. Their artworks are numerous and are based around their religion, which is described below. They were fiercely resistant to neighbouring tribes and Europeans, and thus have survived with much of their culture intact. Their art thus displays a healthy range of diversity that is often absent in pieces from areas where the formidable power of forced Christianity was successfully brought to bear upon the native populations.

Lobi artistic production is intimately tied up with their beliefs. They are governed by a set of social conduct rules that are known as “zosar” Ancestors and fetishes of various sorts are commonplace, both domestically and on a wider social scale. They appeal to “thila” (or thil) spirits, who act as intermediaries between this world and high-power deities such as the creator god (Thagba). There are also various bush spirits, although these are not as powerful as the thila. Access to the thila is controlled by the thildar, or diviner. The Lobi commission – with the help of the village sorcerer – figures known as “bateba”. These serve either an apotropaic function (bateba duntundora) or act as personifications of thila whose personal qualities are especially desirable. In the latter category, the specific sentiments are expressed by body position. The figures with one arm upstretched, for example, indicate a dangerous thil spirit, while erotic thil duos are designed to guarantee fertility to the females in whatever house it is displayed. It is likely that many of the variants reflect personal characteristics of thila, with corpulent, jolly or dejected individuals all known from older collections. However, there is a distinctive subset of bateba known as “bateba yadawora” – literally “unhappy bateba” – whose expressions and stances are believed to reflect sadness and mournfulness, and thus take any such sentiments away from their owners. Non-erotic double figures include examples which are usually assumed to be “maternity” figures (i.e. women with children); the precise significance of these is uncertain, although they may be intended to play a fertility-boosting role like the erotic sculptures mentioned above. Bateba are usually kept on domestic shrines inside or even on top of homes, and are revered alongside a number of other objects including iron statues and ceramic vessels that are often appeased and appealed to by the sacrifice of food, drink and miscellaneous substances, and many bateba still retain some encrusted offerings.

This is a striking and well-rendered piece of Lobi art.