Large bowl-bearing figure, around 1910

Description

wood, blackish brown patina, both arms raised at right angles, with the left hand supporting a receptacle on the head, with the right hand probably once holding a spear or a staff, raised scarification marks, dam., minor missing parts (rim of the receptacle, right hand), cracks (pieces of wood reinserted/spread with mass), rep. (breakages: both upper arms/base - fixed with nails), abrasion of paint, traces of weathering (base);
this figure was probably one of a pair. Due to its stylistic similarities (facial expressions, hairstyle and posture), it could be attributed to the same master who carrved a pair of figures that was offered at Christie’s in Paris (lot 22) in 2009. This pair once belonged to the surrealist painter André Breton and was acquired in Paris in 1927 by Félix Fénéon (literary and art critic and later art dealer and collector). Especially in the context of Modernism and its development history in France the works from the unknown artists from the Ivory Coast play an important role. They were to be found in all the important artistic collections of the time and served as a source of inspiration.
Somewhat unusual for Baule sculptures is that the figures carry vessels on their heads, and with it the resulting position of the arms and above all their size. Alain-Michel Boyer localized the Christie’s figures to the northern Baule territory and assigned them to subgroups (Fari, Mamela, Satikran, Tagbana) who were in close contact with the Senufo. He believes that it is “undoubtedly” a representation of bush-spirits “asie usu”, who were the property of a fortune-teller “komyen fwe”, who used such figures for divination and possession rituals. Above all, the size of the figures and the representation as a pair is an indication of this. The “blolo” figures (= partner from the other world) are always small in size and are always produced as single figures.

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AHDRC: 0058325