Name: Kaka Paternity Shrine Figure, Nigeria #308
SKU: 751039

Kaka Paternity Shrine Figure, Nigeria #308

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Kaka Paternity Shrine Figure, Nigeria #308
Chamba statuettes are rare and their use remains unknown.
Often covered with a thick patina, they are used to enter in contact with spirits.
Their form reproduces the features of Mumuye figurines, their close neighbors, like the huge trunk and the short legs in zig-zag.
Other very close ethnic groups (Karim, Wurkum, Jukun...) also reproduce the Mumuye features, making our Chamba attribution uncertain.
Measurements:58×14×18 cm
The Kaka (also known as Yamba) have nothing to do with the Keaka. ‘Kaka’ is the Fulani name the Germans gave to the Mfumte, Mbem, Mbaw (Ntem) and Ntong, a cluster of about 18000 peoples living in scattered settlements (ca. 18) just south of the Donga River, on the high plateau near the Cameroon-Nigeria border. They reside south of the Mambila but are more related to their southern Tikar neighbours, with whom they share certain customs. The art of the Kaka was deeply influenced by their neighbours in the Cameroon Grassfields. Their statues and masks, like those of the Bangwa of Cameroon, are often covered with a thick, grainy curst of soot.
The Kaka (also known as Yamba) have nothing to do with the Keaka. ‘Kaka’ is the Fulani name the Germans gave to the Mfumte, Mbem, Mbaw (Ntem) and Ntong, a cluster of about 18000 peoples living in scattered settlements (ca. 18) just south of the Donga River, on the high plateau near the Cameroon-Nigeria border. They reside south of the Mambila but are more related to their southern Tikar neighbours, with whom they share certain customs. The art of the Kaka was deeply influenced by their neighbours in the Cameroon Grassfields. Their statues and masks, like those of the Bangwa of Cameroon, are often covered with a thick, grainy curst of soot.
According to Susan Vogel, Kaka 'is a Fulani name the Germans gave to the Mfumte, Mbem, and Mbaw (Ntem), a cluster of peoples living in scattered settlements just south of the Donga River. Though Paul Gebauer collected a number of figures in the "Kaka" and Mambila area, it is hard to define clear regional styles--if they exist--on the basis of his documentation. Gebauer attributes to the Mfumte a figure that serves to localize one small group of highly abstract and dynamically conceived figures that bear some relationship to Mambila style. However, in the Mfumte area he also collected other figures in a style we would consider pure Mambila...
...Nothing like these figures was collected by Gebauer. They are all carved of medium-hard wood and have a thickly encrusted surface. Their flexed arms are held away from the body, their large, firmly planted feet extend as far behind the ankle as before (Arts d'Afrique Noire1973, no. 7:2). Their most characteristic features are their upraised bearded chins and open, screaming mouths. Another peculiarity: all the figures known to me are males, and many carry babies on their backs.' (For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Tishman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981, p. 159)
This rare paternity figure stands firmly on enlarged feet, slightly leaning towards his left side and gazing upward, the child riding on his lower back is highly abstract, and the entire surface has been heavily encrusted with ritual patination over many years of cultural use.
What we understand about paternity figures is associated with so association, known in this border region. Laburthe-Tolra suggested that old initiated men became like women, with the ability to give birth. Then, new initiation candidates know a social birth . This particularity is symbolized by the child in the back of male figures.
Cameroon / Nigeria Border

Kaka Paternity Shrine Figure, Nigeria #308

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