Figure of a spirit wife "blolo bla" · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3051572
Carl Kjersmeier (1889-1961), Kopenhagen, Denmark
Description
wood, pigments, glass beads, two old collection labels: “4140 Ka…” and “Boule-Elfenbensk. Himmelheber 1935”, old repair (base/foot tips)
The Baule believe that every human being has a spouse of the opposite sex before birth in an “other” world.
These “otherworldly partners” had to be treated well, as they easily became jealous and could then harm their human partners (infertility, impotence, money worries). If such problems occurred, a figure had to be carved out of wood to give the spiritual partner a home.
These characters “blolo bla” (female) and “blolo bian” (male) were usually kept on a small altar in the bedroom, and sacrifices such as coins or eggs were offered to them.
In order to gain the help of the “otherworldly partners”, the figures had to be as appealing as possible, designed in accordance with the Baule’s common ideals of beauty and richly decorated with scarification marks.