A Tall carved wooden idol with fetish bundles, shells and red cloth attached. Such works, known as bocio, are prescribed by Fon priests and diviners for such purposes as influencing the weather, detecting thieves, or shielding one's family from sorcery. Most bocio are proactive defensive mechanisms commissioned by individuals to eliminate agents before they can cause harm. They serve as surrogates for the people who commission them, functioning as decoys and deflecting imminent danger. Positioned along paths, roads, agricultural fields, and near domestic compounds as well as inside homes and shrines, bocio operate at the crossroads between the spiritual and the human realms. This idol measures 19.25 inches tall on its base. Provenance: A private Colorado collection.

fair, weathered