TERA Gallery - African Art and Antiquities

"Altering The Way You View The World Of Art"
Type of Object:
    Fon Asen Funerary Alter Staff
    20th c.

    Asen establish a sacred space in the home for
    communication  between the living and the dead, where
    prayer and sacrafice assure that the deceased will remain
    active in the family affairs.  At special times during the year
    collective celebrations are held offering libations.

    People wishing to honor the deceased commission these
    staffs from Fon Blacksmiths.  The staff consist of an iron rod
    on which there is a round platform supported by round
    struts,  and represents a particular praise poem of the
    deceased by the imagery of the top.  The figures and
    symbols on the top indicate  a scene of the person, their
    beliefs and their activities.  The asen cult goes back to the
    middle of the nineteenth century.

    This particular staff is interesting in that it shows both a
    bearded shaman and a Christian cross indicating both the
    influence of missionaries and the maintenance of their
    culture.  

    The Asen would be kept in a small building in the courtyard
    of the family house known as Dehoho and tended by the
    eldest woman in the family.  In the  past there would be an
    Asen for each ancestor serving as a link between the living
    and the dead where offerings and recognition would be
    offered to each Asen.  

Ethnic Group:
    Fon Society

Country of Origin:  
    Benin -Nigeria

Material:   
    Iron
    Brass

Dimensions:

Reference:                  
    Life Force at the Anvil, the Blacksmith’s Art from Africa,
    Tom Joyce, p. 12