The Lobi people number 250,000
and live across Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
They revere spirits known as "thila" for which many
shrines are built. Animals have a significant role as
auxiliaries to help the "bateba" (carved divination figures)
to carry out their mission as intermediaries with the "thila".
As a creature of heaven and earth, the bird serves as a link
with the ancestral realm.
A thil takes the form of a bird so that it will be able to fly quickly to warn its owner of threatening danger, even if its owner is working in a distant field or is away from the community on a trading trip.
Height: 5 1/2" x Width: 1 3/4" x Length: 8" - on a metal 4" x 4" base.
