Gan Brass Figure Burkina Faso

Exquisite examples of an art of cast metal destined to represent "powers" of royal origin, the ancient gan bronzes were associated with the cults rendered to the minds of deceased members of the princely family, recognized by custom as spiritual protectors of the kingdom. Each of them enjoyed a motto recalling an important event in their existence and a symbolic figuration which, reproduced on the different types of ritual supports, gave each object the sacred identity‚ necessary for its function. The repertoire of metal objects from this plastic lexicon which has guided the creative process of society by determining the uniqueness of its cultural supports brings together univocal representations, often animal, emblem of ancient entities, as well as complex figurations, made up of different significant elements, the association of which is supposed to translate the composite nature of the cults which, over the ages, have been integrated into the hierarchical religious system of this small Burkinabé kingdom.

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