Lobi Bateba Phuwe Shrine Figure on Custom Base Rohner Collection Burkina Faso

Elevate your collection with a rare, museum-documented piece of African tribal art. This hand-carved wooden Lobi Bateba Phuwe (Shrine Figure) originates from Burkina Faso and boasts the ultimate gold standard in tribal art provenance. It is directly illustrated and cataloged in the late Professor John R. Rohner's landmark book, Art Treasures from African Runners (2000).

Carved from a single piece of dense hardwood, this authentic mid-century (or earlier) ethnographic artifact features an elongated neck, a distinct oval head with a simplified forehead crest, and blocky pectoral definitions characteristic of the Lobi artistic canon. Traditionally placed on family altars, Bateba figures acted as vital intermediaries to protective spirits (thila), standing guard to ward off misfortune and bring luck to the household.

Provenance: John R. Rohner Collection
Rohner, a museum curator for decades, aimed his practiced eye for authenticity to African art beginning in the early 1908s. His passion for this art only grew through the decades he built his collection––always with an aim for a broad and representative array of pieces. The collection appears in his book, Art Treasures from African Runners (2000, University Press of Colorado). 

Item #323 on pg 161

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