Pair of figures "asie usu" · Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3040076
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 5 July 2008, lot 274
Lucien van de Velde, Antwerp, Belgium
Description
wood, dark brown patina, nearly identical posture, crowned by rather big heads with flat oval faces and elaborate coiffures, tribe-typical scarifications (face and upper part of the body), string of glass beads around the hips of the female, min. dam., cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base;
when a pair of figures is carved together, they cannot possibly represent spirit-spouses (which are always single pieces). They are inevitably spirits of nature, called “asie usu”, which are secondary divinities whose favour is gained through statuettes.
The object Pair of figures “asie usu” with the object ID 3040076 was last part of the auction 82nd Tribal Art Auction at February 27, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 300.
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Publications
Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Kunst der Elfenbeinküste, München 2001, p. 108 f.; van de Velde, Lucien & Joanna Teunen, Ivory Coast, Antwerp 2011
AHDRC: 0057193