Standing male figure "asie usu" ·  Côte d'Ivoire, Baoulé · ID: 3038996

Description

wood, rich blackish brown patina, white pigment, encrusted in some areas, elongated slender corpus with the arms carved close to the body and with columnar neck, facial features, coiffure and scarifications accentuated by kaolin, sacrificial traces, fragmentary (shanks/feet missing), fine cracks (back), rep. (calf and upper arm left hand side), old collection label “3219”, base;
because of the sacrificial traces rather belonging to the figural type of “asie usu” figures. They are part of the normal equipment of “komien” (fortune-tellers), and assist them in their communication with helpful spirits. They are often displayed during sessions in which the diviner is possessed by a spirit and goes into trance. The statue must be visually appealing in order to entice a spirit to take up residence in it. Its elaborated coiffure and body scarifications symbolize a person of importance and dignity.