Wemba Statue

Wemba Statue
Wood, Glassbeads
Size in cm: 22 x 72 x 22
Weight: 3.4kg

The karan-wemba statue combines a wooden female figure standing on a stool-shaped surface. The standing female figure is ornamented with a colourful glassbead necklace and sacrification patterns on belly and arm region. This indicates the high ranking of such a woman and most probably married to a community member. Carving in such a style comes from the region of Burkina Faso, an area where Mossi horsemen from northern Ghana conquered the earlier Dogon inhabitants (about 1500). These sculptures went together with karan-wemba masks which were used in tribal functions to appear at the funeral of an elderly Mossi woman. The statue represents the woman at the height of her physical beauty.