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

while his tunic

their once-crisp details now gently softened by age

and social identity

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

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