The phrase "ancestral figure" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a person or character that represents one's ancestors or heritage, often in a cultural or historical context.
Example: "In many cultures, the ancestral figure is revered as a symbol of wisdom and guidance for future generations."
Alternatives: "ancestral icon" or "forebear figure".
One of the highlights of the latter sale, which includes statues, goblets, masks, and even a pistol (from Mali), is an ornately carved statue from Papua New Guinea, depicting a female ancestral figure, or telum; it is a rare specimen discovered in the Finisterre Mountains in the late nineteenth century.
Lungkata was the Blue-Tongue Lizard Man, an ancestral figure responsible for creating bushfire.
Javier Dzul and Miriam Barbosa were stylized ancestral figures in Mr. Dzul's "Y'Itz Ka'anil," danced to music by Antonio Zepeda and Jorge Reyes.
It includes ancestral figures like Myron Stout and Paul Feeley; established contemporary painters like Stephen Westfall and Thomas Nozkowski; and newcomers like Karen Dow and Chuck Webster.
In addition to ancestral figures like Myron Stout and Moira Dryer, the show includes Philip Taaffe, Mary Heilmann and Chris Martin.
The gates were massive planks, carved above the entrance with major ancestral figures.
The palisades incorporated posts with further ancestral figures, often much bigger than life-size.
The Lore Lindu plateau holds many megalithic remains, including huge boulders carved into ancestral figures, stone burial jars, plates and game boards, whose origins remain unclear.
On Indonesian islands, ancestral figures may be relatively static and foursquare, while the decorative carving and textiles may display considerable linear fantasy.
The interior, however, is fully furnished with relief panels of frontal ancestral figures alternating with panels of laced reed in polychrome geometric patterns.
Important stories that deal with the activities of perhaps just one or two of the ancestral figures and belong to adjacent areas and adjacent clans may constitute a song cycle.
