Wiiso, ancestor pottery

Rare ancestor pot from the Yungur region, eastern Nigeria.

Sacred pottery dedicated to the cult of the ancestors, it plays a role in healing, protection of hunters and formerly of warriors.

Anthropomorphic in character, this beautiful pottery presents a bearded head on a good neck, the belly taking up the arms returning to a prominent umbilicus.

Of significant size, it probably contains the spirit of a Yungur chief, preserved in a ritual enclosure on a sacred site.

Bibliography :
Terre africaine, Musée Barbier-Muller 2008, pages 240 and following, 440, cat. 107 for a very similar ancestor's pot.