136 FIG. 15 (left): Figure. Mumuye, Nigeria. Wood. H: 55 cm. Private collection, courtesy Entwistle, London. Photo: © Entwistle, Paris. FIG. 16 (near right): Male fi gure. Mumuye, Nigeria. Wood, cord. H: 58 cm. Private collection. Photo: © Vincent Girier Dufournier, Paris. the concurrent loss of local religious practices during the twentieth century contributed to the export of objects from this part of northeastern Nigeria. The diversity of the use of the fi gures within the Mumuye corpus may be as high as their degree of stylistic variety; however, it is impossible to deduce a particular function from a fi gure’s style or from any other formal attribute, the more so since the same fi gure was apparently sometimes or even often used in different contexts. In northeastern Nigeria, as elsewhere in Africa, misfortunes were dealt with through cults, most of them reserved exclusively for the male population. Because access to these cults happened through initiation and the payment of fees, some scholars have preferred to label them as initiation associations. Aside from two major cults, known as Vaa-Bong and Vaa-Dosong, there were many smaller cults, each with its own proper name. Wooden sculptures were associated with a variety of cults and served diverse purposes. They were used at funerals, for peacemaking, to ward off epidemics, and to identify and punish social deviants (thieves, disrespectful children, and unruly wives). Often appearing in male-female pairs, they were owned by blacksmiths, “rainmakers,” and other important individuals. Similar sculptures were also used in healing rituals, specifi cally when an epidemic such as smallpox would threaten the well-being of the community. Such a fi gure would “talk” to its owner after its mouth was smeared with the juice of a medicinal plant (fi g. 3). The diversity of cult practices in terms of their powers and concerns refl ects the variety within Mumuye culture and makes it further diffi cult to generalize information. Differences appear to exist between northern and southern Mumuye, and, according to Rubin, these differences have to do with varying degrees of centralization (Fardon 2011: 264). In the north, where they were called janari, statues served to assist and endorse chiefs and elders in their efforts to offer protection and ensure the community’s well-being. In the more decentralized south, however, where the statues were called jagana or lagana, they helped people access divination and healing. Yet Rubin (1978: 107) states that there is no “discernible correlation” between the dif- FIG. 17 (far right, see also fi g. 1): Female fi gure. Mumuye, Nigeria. Wood. H: 53.5 cm. Collection of Claire Hocquet. Photo: © Vincent Girier Dufournier, Paris. FEATURE
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