Standing female figure "blolo bla" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3042658

Description

wood, rich dark brown shiny patina, kaolin, face with prominent round bulging eyes, vaulted by diadem-shaped fine grooved coiffure forming knot and plait at the back of the head, typcial posture, richly adorned by fine carved skin scarification marks accentuated by kaolin, slightly dam., cracks (right side of head and body/partly filled with mass), missing parts (foot tips and front part of the base/completed by metal casting), base.
Baule woodcarvers produced these figurines for two distinct, unrelated rituals. Some figures were used by fortune-tellers as “spirit beings” (“asie usu”), while others were assigned to childless couples as “wife” (“blolo bla”) and “husband” (“blolo bian”) from the realm of the unseen. With the help of fortunetellers, these “blolo”-figurines can intervene in difficult situations or in crises in relationships. Such sculptures are especially useful for cases of childlessness. The infertile spouse spends several nights with a specially made figurine in order to conceive with the other spouse in a dream state. Offerings also encourage these “loved ones from the other world” to become active.