West African Statues

The Lobi are an ethnic group that originated in what is today Ghana. The name Lobi originates from two Lobiri words; lou (meaning forest) and bi (meaning children), literally ‘Children of the forest’. The Lobi do not use masks. Instead, they create male and female spirit figures called bateba with heads sculpted on top of…

Colonial statues are a genre of wooden figurative sculpture within African Art which originated during the colonial period. The statues commonly depict European colonial officials such as civil servants, doctors, soldiers or technicians or Europeanised middle-class Africans. They are often characterised by recurrent decorative motifs, such as suits, official uniforms or tobacco pipes, and are painted in bright or glossy colours with…