H x W x D: 24.4 x 8.2 x 8 cm (9 5/8 x 3 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Kounaïri, Côte d'Ivoire
Date:
Mid-20th century
Label Text:
Baule artists create wood sculptures covered in gold (sika blawa) as prestige items displayed for public ceremonies. Other ethnic groups in central and southern Côte d'Ivoire also use this type of gold-covered regalia. This figure was collected in 1973 among the Wan peoples, who neighbor the Baule to the west. It had been used in women's initiation ceremonies for more than 20 years.
Description:
Gold leaf covered wood figure of a seated female with chewing stick in her proper right hand, her proper left hand on her knee, and wearing a loin cloth, pendant earrings, multiple peaked hairstyle and ringed neck.
Provenance:
Philip Ravenhill, collected Kounaïri, Côte d'Ivoire, 1974 to 1995
Exhibition History:
Good As Gold: Fashioning Senegalese Women, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 24, 2018-February 2, 2020; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, September 16, 2020-January 3, 2021
From Baga to Yoruba: Treasures of African Art, Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, Michigan, November 5, 2006-January 28, 2007
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