Objet rituel

Ritual Object

The ancient Gan bronzes are exquisite examples of an art dedicated to depicting ‘powers’ of royal origin. They were associated with the worship of the spirits of deceased members of the princely family, recognised by custom as spiritual protectors of the kingdom.

Each of them had a motto recalling an important event during his lifetime, and a symbolic representation which, when reproduced on ritual objects, imbued them with the ‘sacred identity’ necessary for their use.

The repertoire of metal objects was generated by the ‘formal lexicon’ that governed the creative process of society by determining the unicity of its vehicles of expression. They include both univocal representations of animals and emblems of ancient entities, and complex figurations combining a number of signifying elements whose association is meant to convey the composite nature of forms of worship, which, down the ages, have been integrated in the hierarchical religious system of this small Burkinabe kingdom.

This object is a remarkable example of the above. It is designated by the generic term sin túrifã, which implies its composite form. It is associated with a form of worship practiced by Sua priests appointed by the king.

The motif of three snakes sharing the same body conveys the communal origin of the matriclans descending from Princess Nyasè-Pósó, the youngest daughter of the royal family. Her female descendants were gradually excluded from the dynastic line of the Farma, an exogamous group, and founded the Sua, Khama and Thãama clans necessary for matrimonial exchanges. She was elevated to the rank of power protecting the cohesion of the reign, and her motto is ‘She appeared seated in a nest of weaverbirds, holding the chain of sovereignty’. The couple of birds (ploceus cucullatus), enthroned here on the snake, is her emblem. It symbolises the split nature of this entity venerated as a ‘putative mother’ by all the kings and their allies.