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Figure
blolo bian
unidentified Ivorian
Ivorian
----
undated
Baule figures may serve as resting places for nature spirits (asie usu) and spirit spouses (blolo bian), Both types of spirits must be offered figures of beautiful human beings or they will refuse to reside within a figure. Only the handling of a figure by its owner provides a clue to the type of spirit concerned: nature spirit figures receive offerings of food, raw eggs, and blood which gradually build a crusty, dirty surface which the Baule find as repulsive as the spirits housed within these figures. ³Spirit lovers are offered food in a dish like people, are fondled and wiped, and eventually acquire a smooth, lustrous surface...and become soft and approachable² (Vogel 1973:25). Unfortunately Europeans, especially the French who have collected Baule figures for years, are prone to give any figure a good scrubbing and thorough waxing so that it conforms to their sense of a proper surface, thus removing any trace of the way the first owner handled his spirit figure. This male figure was carved by a prolific artist working in this century (Vogel 1978). -- Professor Christopher Roy, School of Art and Art History, University of Iowa
Guinea Coast Africa Côte d'Ivoire
Baule
Height: 26 inches Width: 10 inches Depth: 8 3/4 inches
Wood, pigment
The Stanley Collection
University of Iowa. Stanley Museum of Art
X1986_253
7/5/2007
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wood (plant material) pigment
183425165
Placed on man or woman's personal shrine
Religion Spirit
Spirit spouse