Nomoli ou Pomdo.
Pedra-sabão esculpida, 15,5 cm
Escultor Serbro ou Kissi Sapi, 1800 (c.) ou anterior, Serra Leoa,
Fotografia de 2 de setembro de 2020.
Proveniente da coleção de Edmondo Trombetta, Monza, Italy.
Leilão Zemanek-Münster,  95th Tribal Art Auction, 24 de outubro de 2020, lote 110, Munique, Alemanha.

For generations, farmers in Sierra Leone and adjacent areas of Liberia and Guinea have unearthed small stone figures. Broadly attributed to the forefathers of the present-day Kissi people and the vanished Sapi peoples, the carvings range from heads and half figures to full figures and groups. The Mende people and their neighbours believe the stone figures represent the previous landowners and make offerings to them to bring abundant harvest. They call the figures “nomoli”. The Kissi and their neighbours link them to ancestors and place them on commemorative shrines. They call them “pomdo”. In any case all are examples of ritual recycling, as the stone figures have been repurposed for new needs.