H x W x D: 33.2 x 7.5 x 9 cm (13 1/16 x 2 15/16 x 3 9/16 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Côte d'Ivoire
Date:
1930s
Label Text:
A Baule person would have recognized this figure as a waka sran, a "person in wood." For the Baule, every successful sculpted figure necessarily conveys a sense of individuality, as in the approbation "o fa sran!"--"it resembles a person!" Whether carved to represent one's otherworld mate--the "otherworld woman" (blolo bla) of a man, or the "otherworld man" (blolo bian) of a woman--or a bush-spirit familiar, the sculpted Baule figure is a stand-in interlocutor for an unseen spirit.
A Baule woman probably commissioned this male figure as a portrayal of her otherworld mate, following the instructions of a diviner and his revelation that the particular problem the woman faced stemmed from the jealousy of her neglected mate in the otherworld. To picture his identity and also to ultimately please him, the sculptor set out to carve a person as defined by Baule notions of attractiveness--a column like neck, long torso and rounded calves. Yet it is a notion that has literally been given a modern touch with the addition of a pith helmet. Perhaps the ideal man is a successful government clerk.
Description:
Standing male figure with thick legs wearing a pith helmet and a necklace and waist beads.
Exhibition History:
The Self and the Other, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, October 2, 1994-April 9, 1995
Dreaming the Other World: Figurative Art of the Baule, Côte d'Ivoire, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 9-November 30, 1993
Published References:
Ravenhill, Philip L. 1993. Dreaming the Other World: Figurative Art of the Baule, Côte d'Ivoire. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 3, no. 2.
Ravenhill, Philip L. 1996. Dreams and Reverie: Images of Otherworld Mates Among the Baule, West Africa. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 24-25, no. 8.
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