Standing female spirit spouse "blol bla" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baule · ID: 3034465

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, encrusted in some areas, beautiful modelled, nearly naturalistic facial features, the grooved coiffure arranged in four lobes with chignon in the middle, fine burled scarifications, slightly dam., cracks, socle;
when the owner of a spirit-spouse dies, the object loses its purpose. It discards its sacred status for his descendants and lies abandoned in the house. It is therefore no desecration to give it away or sell it, which explains the abundance of figures of this kind in the West.