Nigeria
Mumuye

Wood, fiber rope, beads, cowrie shells
Mid 20th Century
Length: 25 in, Width: 3 in, Depth: 3 in
Idiophone – Rasp – Scrapped

Mumuye artists are famous for their wooden statues known as ‘iagalagana.’ The Mumuye statuary was discovered in the late 1960s. With no royal system, the Mumuye are organized by age classes and choose a village chief who is assisted by a council of elders.  This Mumuye figural upon a wooden rasp shows the stylistic signs of this ethnic group. The finial on top of the rattle is the wood carved ‘iagalagana.’  It has crescentic coiffure,  short legs, proportionally smaller than the remainder of the body, a slender torso with a string of beads and cowrie shells around the waist and a rounded chest (toroidal shape) with arms suspended at the sides. 

The functions of Mumuye sculptural figures are varied.  It is believed that the statuary does not depict ancestors, but rather incarnates tutelary spirits. They were used by both diviners and healers, whose professions included diagnosis and cure of ill health and other kinds of misfortunes.