Pomdo statue of the Kissi people of Guinea - Carved stone

Pomdo Statue From the Kissi people of Guinea Carved stone of ancestral representation Height: 13cm Very good condition, slight lack on the top Several for sale, reduced delivery costs in case of group purchases *The Kissi constitute a population of Guinea numbering nearly 300, 000 individuals, perhaps of Sudanese origin, having been strongly influenced by the Malinké culture. Denise Paulme (in Les gens du riz, Paris, Plon, 1954) evokes this people and notes anthropomorphic carved stones called pomda, pomdoa or pomtan (plur. Of pomdo). They were found in the ground and were used by the Kissi as ancestor figures. According to D. Paulme, when an important man died, a pomdo was dug up near a kola tree planted by the deceased, during his lifetime. Through dreams or divination, a descendant discovered the precise location of the statuette. Then took place the ritual called "interrogation of the corpse" during which the statuette was placed on a stretcher placed on the head of the diviner. Tilted to the right, to the left, it "answered" the questions. The pomdo bears the name of the ancestor it represents and of whom it constitutes the "portrait." For the Kissi, these pomda received offerings at the end of the sowing season, for the festivals of the beginning of the harvest.