Pair of figures
Sotheby Parke-Bernet New York, The Helena Rubinstein Collection, 1966
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Arie Birnbaum, Hadera, Israel
Zemanek-Münster Würzburg, 28. Mai 2005, lot 130
Andreas Lindner, Munich, Germany
French Private Collection
Description
wood, slightly shiny blackish brown patina, male/female, with elongated slender limbs, elaborately adorned with raised scarification marks and fanciful coiffures, slightly dam., cracks, rep. (three-parted chin beard supplemented), old collection number at the backside of the base: “B 91 - 174” (female) and “B 91 - 175” (male), each mounted on wooden pedestal;
when a pair of figures are carved together, they cannot possibly represent spirit-spouses (which are always single pieces); they are inevitably spirits of nature, so-called “asie usu” and were used together by a trance diviner “komien”. The figures are displayed between the fortune teller and his client during a public performance. The figures always have to be handled with care in order to win “asie usus” goodwill and help in telling the future or inquiring causes of misfortune.
An impressive pair of figures from the Baule due to their elegance and collectors history. They are formerly from the Helena Rubinstein collection in New York and could be seen in interior and portrait photographs taken between 1950 and 1965 in her New York apartment. In 1966 they were sold at a Parke-Bernet auction. The further „resume“ of the Baule pair were, among others, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Andreas Lindner (Munich) and a French private collection.