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Description: | This soap stone, or steatite, figure has been carved in the style of a nomoli. Nomolis are thought to have originally represented chief's or group leaders: early encounters with Portuguese traders suggest they predate the fifteenth century. They were later rediscovered during the preparation of land by Mende farmers and reintegrated into spiritual life as figures associated with the power to produce higher rice yields. Nomolis became highly sought after by British travellers, traders and colonial administrators during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and this example is likely to have been recently made in the form of a market woman to meet this demand.
Female soapstone figure with arms raised in support of a package born on the head. It has been made in the style of a nomoli.
caption: Frontal view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 1995.129
caption: Rear view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 1995.129
caption: Left side view of whole of Horniman Museum object no 1995.129
caption: Frontal view of label of Horniman Museum object no 1995.129
caption: Rear view of label of Horniman Museum object no 1995.129 | Publisher: | http://www.horniman.ac.uk/ | Rights holder: | Horniman Museum and Gardens | Subjects: | figures (ritual & belief: representations) figures (ritual & belief: cult of the dead) divination figures soapstone | Source: | Horniman Museum | Identifier: | oai:oai.horniman.ac.uk:object-4943 | Go to resource |
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