Tribal Art

Statuette Paré / Zigua from Tanzania (N° 14859)

With large circular ears forming one of the specificities of East African statuary, this asexual figure is depicted in a frontal psoition, legs spread from the width of the pelvis, hands positioned on the bust surmontanty a slightly swollen abdomen. The hollowed-out pupils had to be encrusted with beads in the past. Locally abraded brown skate.
This type of sculpture comes from the northeastern region of Tanzania, bordering Kenya, facing the Indian Ocean, where the Paré, Shamba, Zigua, and Mbugu tribes live. A relative homogeneity characterizes the productions of these groups, recalling some of the Malagasy and Bataks with whom, via maritime trade, contact could once have been established. This piece was probably used for educational purposes during male initiations. It could also embody an ancestor or a spirit.