Among the Lobi people, there is a spiritual belief system centered around invisible protective spirits called Thil. These spirits serve as intermediaries between the human, natural, and spiritual world, influencing fertility, health, protection against malevolent forces, and well-being of the household.
These figures are carved out of hard, dense tropical hardwood and have a abstract or schematic human form.
They embody the spirits. Once carved and ritually dedicated, each bateba was believed to become “alive” in a spiritual sense: the Thil spirit would dwell in the figure and act to protect the household and its members
Sacrificial and age realated patina
Tribal art form Burkina Faso from the 1930s