Standing female figure "blolo bla" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3035930

Description

wood, matt blackish brown patina, wispy body in characteristic posture, proportionally large head with projecting diadem-shaped coiffure, carved with neck-band and delicate scarification marks, slightly dam., cracks (shoulder and base on the right), abrasion of paint (facial features), base;
both hands rest on the belly near the navel, as if to draw attention to it, perhaps in reference to the Baule expression “bla yolè ngwan nyama” - “the woman holds the rope of life”.
Nèreè Onésiphore Morel (1892-1963) was a colonial officer in Oubangui Chari in French Equatorial Africa (he stayed there between 1928 - 31). He brought the figure to France, where it was inherited within the family.

The object Standing female figure “blolo bla” with the object ID 3035930 was last part of the auction 75th tribal art auction at November 30, 2013 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 262 achieved a sales price of EUR 1,500.

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