Ada Aziza Figure

The Ada (Andagbe, Dangba or Ga) are a small subgroup of the Ewe people living in the southeast corner of Ghana. Their language has affinities with Nigerian Igbo. The Ada produce carved figures used on shrines in a variety of forms. According to Suzanne Preston Blier in African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power, one such type is known as aziza, representing “miniature forest dwellers [who] are believed to control the hunt and all that pertains to the forest.” These eponymous spirits are described as having “one leg, one arm, and a single hair that covers them entirely, making them invisible.” This singularity likely relates to the aziza’s close association with the forest, and, more specifically, to trees with their lone foot and trunk. The Ada maintain shrines to the gods and spirits where aziza and other carvings are placed for good fortune and protection. Ada carvings are generally on the smaller side and fashioned in minimal strokes from a light colored wood, which is the painted sparingly with earth pigments, specifically kaolin and red ochre.

This particular example was acquired in France in the 1980s. It is an especially expressive and refined example with unusually good age. $500

9″

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