Tribal Art

Ample distended ears frame the face, moreover underlined by a crenellated beard and topped with a high tiara, of this sculpted figure. The assertive posture brings out the bulbous abdomen on which the hands rest. Locally peeling dark patina. Erosions, gaps, and desication cracks.

The Jukuns are a population of West and Central Africa living mainly in Nigeria in the upper Bénoué Valley, also in northwestern Cameroon.
Thanks to the he expansion of the old Jukun Empire, the Jukun or Wurbo of Nigeria scattered into two groups: one established south of the Donga River, and the second north of the region, near the Mumuye and the Wurkum. The attacks of the Chambas first of all, then of the Fulani then, contributed to the extinction of this kingdom. Their king Aka uku, considered a semi-diviner, is also their intermediary with the royal ancestors, through rituals including the sacrifice of the king in the event of a plague or a bad harvest. The Southern Jukun have a tradition of masks, including the male akuma mask linked to the cult of the same name and four types of which have been listed by A.Rubin. They are often endowed with horns evoking the ram or the antelope, in connection with the Akuma cult. Statues are rare, and belong to the mam cult widespread in eastern Nigeria. They represent the deceased chiefs, their wives and their entourage. They are exhibited during harvest and rain ceremonies, and during crises. They are also known to have pairs of statues named anhebi, which are planted in the ground to protect crops. (Art of the Upper Benue River, C.Evers, and African Art, Kerchache)