Four-faced Female "Guardian" Figure

This unusual standing four-headed naked female has full breasts and flexed legs. Her head is done in a "feathered" style. The faces are aligned symmetrically, as if associated to the cardinal directions in the role of a guardian. This type of multiple headed statue is referred to as "ginin" and according to Leloup was "sculpted upon the demand of a lineage, each head representing someone responsible for defending the family." The left arm is missing. Weathered wood. Nice dry natural surface patina.
Height: 25 inches (63.5 cm.)

DG023

A related statue is in the Museum for Volkerkunde in Vienna. Another, a kneeling version of this multi-headed icon, of height 33 cm., in a private European collection, was exhibited in the Rietberg Museum, Zurich.