Standing female figure "blolo bla"
Côte d'Ivoire, Baule
sold
EUR 12,000
Provenance
Henri Schouten (1940-2012), Amsterdam, The Netherlands / Los Angeles, USAGerman Private Collection (1982)
Size
H: 35 cm
H: 13.8 inch
Description
wood, base
This figure captivates with its delicate, graceful appearance, the slender, free worked arms and particularly finely worked details, such as the filigree braided plaits and the small hands.
She wears an elaborate hairstyle and is lavishly decorated with scarification marks on her face and body. According to the Baule’s sense of beauty, this figure is the idealised representation of a woman.
It is the embodiment of a “spouse from the otherworldly world”, whom the Baule believe that they can influence the fortunes of the living.
These figures were usually kept on a small altar in the bedroom, and sacrifices such as coins or eggs were offered to them.
Comparing literature
Lunsford, John, The Gustave & Franyo Schindler Collection of African Sculpture, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1975, p. 76, ill. 23Publications
AHDRC: 0184692