Fon Fetish Legba Iron Phallus helmetmask two small hand-built zoomorphic figures

two small hand-built zoomorphic figures perch on the vessel’s outer rim

Textiles held profound cultural significance

often enhanced with white lime or pigments for added contrast

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Benin or Ghana

Fon Fetish Legba Iron Phallus helmetmask two small hand-built zoomorphic figuresFon people, mid 20th century, Togo, Benin or Ghana, West Africa Exceptional forged iron phallic fetish associated with Legba, crafted by the Fon people of the TogoGhana border region. Objects of this type were traditionally driven into the earth to stimulate agricultural fertility, invoking Legbas vital generative power. In Vodun belief, Legba is often represented as a phallus or as a man bearing an exaggerated phallus. Known as the youngest son of