AfiV Q 
Yesufu Asogba - modeleur dahoméen 
Etude ethno-esthétique sur des statuettes en terre cuite 
Roger Brand 
W h Surnmarium. — In the beginning of this century there lived in Dahomey a modeller 
(jg S ^ name was Yesufu Asogba. He belonged to the Yoruba-Nago tribe and spent his floruit 
£ ^~30) in Porto-Novo. In the present study 89 terracottas which were modelled and baked 
have S °^ a an ^ which now belong to different museums and private collections in Europe 
will b £en ana iy se d- First a diachronic classification of the total of the works of the artist 
de esta hHshed from the aesthetic point of view. Then 68 statues will be identified and 
V 0 cl^ e< ^ e ^h n ographically. These statues represent men and women who live with their 
a nd ° r deified powers in a secret society, who have political and religious responsibility, 
° w W h° Participate in a specific way in social life. Probably Asogba wanted to portray his 
Du S ° Clei y hy these statues, but his own people neither accepted him nor his art. Among 
fi )y nie^ anS ’ however, he was appreciated very soon already. Through his art Asogba actually 
a connecting link between African and European culture. 
Introduction 
Sommaire : 
PREMIÈRE PARTIE 
I- Les problèmes de l’objet dans une société à tradition orale 
IL Problèmes et méthodes de recherches ethnographiques 
III. La personnalité de l’artiste 
DEUXIÈME PARTIE 
IV. Critique de ce qui a été dit sur ces statuettes 
V. Analyse morphologique 
Vl. Définitions des lois pour la formation des séries et des groupes 
TROISIÈME PARTIE 
II. Essai de définition de ce que sont les Vodun 
Hl- Description des figurines 
Conclusion 
Amhr °Pos 67. 1972 
IL J. Narr