...of twin births and the response of families to this rather disconcerting phenomenon. Multiple sets of twins, sometimes two and three sets in a family, are not uncommon in this region, as I have observed in several different places and had been confirmed ar the beginning of the twentieth century (Thomas 1970 1:18). However, I have found twin ritual and its effects only in the western part of Temneland, especially in Port Loko District. (1)

Miniature houses are found here and there in Temne villages and larger towns and one does not always know at a glance what each one might be. Some may be chicken coops or other small sheds for animals, although this is rare. Most miniature houses are small because they represent the dim, remote world of the spirits, less visible than the houses of the real world, obviously not useful to real people, not located in real dimensions or space or time (see Lamp 1982, chapter 3). Among these spiritual, miniature houses are the houses devoted to twins. (2) These are not where wooden twin figures are housed, but they contain symbols of twinship and of death, and they are the site of sacrifices. It is the use of the twin houses, more than the twin figures, that dominates twin ritual.

In this article I would like to introduce the readers to a form of art unfamiliar to most scholars of African art in an area not well covered in the literature. We will look at the ritual surrounding twin births and deaths, and play with some thoughts about twinship in general, and why it causes parents such concern. Twins (ta-bari, sg. ka-bari) definitely give rise to elaborate precautions. We begin with the figures, which may interest traditional art historians the most, bur which are surrounded by even more arresting visual and performative imagery.

USE OF TWIN FIGURES

Wooden twin figures take part in the ritual for the veneration of twins, particularly those who died. But they do not have a stylistic identity (Figs. 1-10). The Temne represent an amalgamation of five or more dialects which can be said to be interintelligible, and the name was recorded by the Portuguese as early as 1506, but as an ethnic group it is fair to say that they are a colonial-era construction for enabling the British to get a grip on groupings and allegiances. They have never constituted a centralized political unit, and they are culturally diverse, the southern groups sharing much with the Mende, the eastern groups owing much of their heritage to the Manding of Guinea, the northern groups allied with the Susu and Limba, and the western groups with a long history of interaction with the Krio of Yoruba and Ibibio heritage among others. It can be said equally of Temne arts that they do not form a stylistic whole. Each area and each carver often has a unique style, and it can be very hard to make stylistic generalizations, except for the fact that Temne art tends to be simple, not particularly stylized, and sometimes rudimentary. In the case of the twin figures, often carved by nonprofessional or semiprofessional artists, this is especially the case.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Wooden figures were still being used when I did my research among the Temne from 1976 through 1980, but the practice was clearly in decline. Certainly the wars of the 1990s have disrupted much of Temne culture; the almost wholesale embrace of Western culture with its guns, diamond market, blue jeans, and Yale sweatshirts has left especially the young Temne disaffected with and oblivious to the older traditions; and I would be very surprised if the carving of twin figures has continued. Nevertheless, I have opted for the present tense, since I do not know.

Standing figures are carved as a general rule to represent the dead twin as a playmate for the live one, but they also serve as an instrument of ritual for the mother (Anwyl 1916:43; Langley 1939:77; Thomas 1970 1:114). In some cases figures are carved for living twins (Cole 1886:25; Thomas 1970 1:114), but this seems to be the exception. The carver will often carve from life in the latter case. I have never seen a matched pair, although figures in identical style are found in separate collections.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

The carvers of twin figures are usually semiprofessional artists who derive their subsistence mainly from farming, although some twin figures I have seen seem to be the work of untrained carvers. Commissions for twin figures for a family would not draw the more substantial fees that would come from work for the men's ritual society, for example, or from chiefs. In 1976 and 1979-80 I studied the work of one carver, Pa Aluseni Kamara, tracing the steps as he blocked out a piece of timber and refined it into a twin figure (Figs. 11-13). This is detailed in my PhD dissertation (Lamp 1982:92-8).

The figures are usually about 20cm-30cm (77/8" x 117/8") tall. The wood used for figures is said to be either si-gboro or ka-lap. (3) Figures I have seen are generally nude, although the Temne tend not to emphasize sexual characteristics, either primary or secondary. Some male figures are carved with shorts, and occasionally with hats, jackets, and shoes. Female and male figures sometimes are carved with rings around the neck representing crease lines, as is common throughout Sierra Leone. The figures are frequently adorned with strings of beads around the neck and the waist, and some female figures are carved with strings of beads, necklaces, and beaded or textile aprons. Sometimes the abdomen and chest are covered with carved cicatrization patterns. The detail that most clearly distinguishes a figure as Temne--although it is seldom found on the small twin figures and more on the other, larger, ritual figures--is the marking of two small, vertical incisions on each cheek, although some related groups also bear these. There is no obvious distinction of the twin figure from figures used in a number of other ritual contexts, such as healing, women's initiation, and royal display. So there is no certain way to determine that a Temne figure is a twin figure except through documentation in situ. But twin figures seem to be the smallest.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]

It is the mother who maintains the figure, and if documentation from the early twentieth century still holds, it is kept near her sleeping place (Thomas 1970 1:114). She is the one who decorates the figure with strings of beads--usually white to represent spiritual protection--hung around the waist, as small children often wear. There is little documentation on how mothers use the twin figures ritually, but some information was given in the early part of the last century. The figure is sometimes placed standing before the mother when she suckles the remaining child after one twin has died. When washing or feeding the child, the figure is also washed and fed, i.e., offered plates of food, which is expected to disappear. When the living twin marries, the figure is presented to him or her and taken to the home of the newlywed (Langley 1939:77).

Procedures with twin figures seem to be somewhat idiosyncratic and regional, although there are some general practices. An expert female builder at the village of Romeni told me that when she comes to build the twin house, ka-bangka, she brings twin figures, puts them in a basket (ka-blai), places it on the family's veranda, and then proceeds to build their ka-bangka. Presumably the proximity of the twin figures to the construction site is significant. Hall (1928:4z7) reported that the wooden figures illustrated in his article were taken from the graves of twins, suggesting that they may have been intended as companions for the dead.

The figure of a twin may also be carved for purposes other than the twin ritual practiced specifically by a mother. A figure used by the Angbangbani association of diviners and circumcisers for unknown purposes is said to be a twin, and it is used, presumably, because of the association with the power of twins. Healers also use twin figures, which they keep in baskets with other items, to kill antisocial people with malevolent spiritual connections. In boys' initiation, Rabai, staffs are carved to be used as pounders by the new initiates in the final coming-out ceremonies, and these frequently are carved with a twin figure as the finial, chosen by the young boy himself as a symbol of sexual and social energy (Figs. 14-16; Lamp 1978). It is said that anyone who plays with a twin figure may get twins (Thomas 1970 1:114), so the figure is thought to have a great deal of creative power.

An early reference to twin figures was recorded at the town of Rotifunk in west-central Sierra Leone, a predominantly Temne town, by an African American missionary in 1877, revealing some characteristic ritual practices involving these figures, as well as the coercive power that missionaries wielded:

Early next morning we reached Rotufunk [sic]. I was standing in front of the house. A girl passed, going toward the river, with an image ornamented with beads in her hand....She said it was a woman's child, and she was going to wash it. I spoke to the king, asking him to get it for me. He sent for the woman, who said that she gave birth to twins, and one died. She had this image made, and believed that the spirit of the dead child now dwelt in it and minded the family. She could not part with it. I had taken my revolver with me--the one presented to me in New York. I showed it to the king and told him if he would get the image for me I would give him the revolver, and an Arabic Bible for his friend, who wanted one. He saw the husband, and they began making country fashion and offering sacrifices, I suppose to get the spirit out of the image (Joseph Gomer, October...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from African Arts
Doubles and twins: a new approach to contemporary studio photography i..., March 22, 2008

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.