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Very old LOBI BATEBA Ti Bala Dorka ( Janus ) statue with very eroded dry patina of a two-headed figure on a single body. The lower part of the legs is missing. Traces of woodworm, cracks from desiccation and missing parts due to its age. This Bateba is sold pedestaled on an ebony base.
The two-headed figures, known as Ti Bala Dorka, represent deities whose ability to see in several directions at once makes them exceptionally dangerous and powerful, which some believe is used against witchcraft and malevolent forces.
"Many Lobi figures include several arms, legs or heads. They represent ti bala or exceptional people.
...Thus, a figure with more than one head is doubly perceptive and quick to act against malevolent forces, and such two-headed figures remind us that these are images of supernatural rather than
natural."
From - Christopher Roy - The Lobi of Burkina Faso
Ref: GUNNHY4G2B