A Fon iron altar

ASEN

Details

A Fon iron altar
asen
The tall stem supporting a disc on which are applied a central figure wearing a mitre and seated on a tall stool before two supplicants who kneel before him, surrounded by a flag, a cross, a large hand, a bush, a chameleon and two trees of which one has a bird, the rim with twelve pendant hoes, cones and crosses
105cm. high

Lot Essay

Bryna Freyer in Asen. Iron Altars from Ouidah, Republic of Benin (Washington, 1993) discusses the functions of these lively sculptural groups in iron which are used in the Voodoo cults of that town. For a more general discussion of such altars in the region see Edna B. Bay Asen - Iron Altars of the Fon People of Bénin, Atlanta, 1985.

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