Tiv Wood Sculpture From Nigeria Nineteenth

Spectacular 19th century African sculpture in very hard wood, foot injuries Very old erosion of Time TIV from Northern Nigeria height 92cm Visible dorsal ridge, pronounced female sex The Tiv are a people of West Africa. They constitute about 2.5% of the total population of Nigeria, and a total number of 2.2 million individuals in all of Nigeria and Cameroon. Traditional Tiv lands are found in Benue, Taraba and Nassarawa States in the eastern part of Nigeria. The Tiv are Christians and animists. Most Tivs attach importance to genealogy. The genealogical descent is made in relation to the father. The common ancestor of all Tivs would be an individual, himself bearing the name of Tiv. The ancestor Tiv, had two sons - Con chongo and Ipusu), who created two Tivs ancestors, MbaChongo for Con Chongo and MbaPusu for Ipusu, in which all the Tivs recognize themselves. The MbaChongo and MbaPusu then divide into large branches, which themselves are divided into smaller ones. The smallest branch, which is the smallest lineage is called "ipaven". Members of an ipaven tend to live together. A community from an ipaven living together is called “Tar”. This form of social organization, called in English "segmentary lineage" ("Segmented lineage"?), Is found almost everywhere in the world. However, this has been extensively studied in traditional African societies (Middleton and Tait 1958). The Tiv are the best-known example of West Africa, thanks to the ethnological works of Laura Bohannan (1952) and Paul and Laura Bohannan (1953). In East Africa the best known example of "segmentary lineage" is that of the Nuer, studied in 1940 by Evans-Pritchard. The Tivs are considered a Bantu people. This sculpture was exhibited at the National Museum of Reykjavik from March 17 to April 29, 2007 and appears in the catalog written by Pierre Amrouche "Ancestral Africa", editions of the national museums of Iceland reproduced on page 39 figure 14. free shipping worldwide