Seated female figure "waka sona", "asie usu" type ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3046665

Description

wood, rest. (cracks spread with mass)

Most Baule statuettes of seated male or female figures are connected with the “asie usu”, the spirits of the bush, which are secondary divinities whose favour is gained through statuettes.

They are part of the basic equipment of “komien” (fortune-tellers), and assist them in their communication with helpful spirits.

They are often displayed during sessions in which the diviner is possessed by a spirit and goes into trance. The statue has to be as attractive as possible in order to encourage the spirit to live in it.

The object Seated female figure “waka sona”, “asie usu” type with the object ID 3046665 was last part of the auction 94th Tribal Art Auction at March 7, 2020 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 233 achieved a sales price of EUR 2,000.

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