Description
Baule statue, Blolo bian, Ivory Coast Wood and beads H. 40 cm Baule Blolo bian figure, Ivory Coast H. 15 ¾ in Provenance: - Henri Lecler, Geneva - Parke Bernet, New York, December 7, 1968, lot 57 - Private collection Admirable for its volumes and the sensitivity of its modelling, this Baule effigy marvellously expresses the serenity of the male figure it embodies. This statue is part of the corpus of blolo bian, or "spouses of the afterlife", to whom the Baule devoted their individual and family care. Sculpted to offer the mystical spouses of their possessors a receptacle in which to incarnate, the blolo bian effigies offer the image of "the ideal of physical perfection, with the subtle inflections of life" (Boyer, Baule, Visions d'Afrique, 2008, p. 150).
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Baule statue, Blolo bian, Ivory Coast Wood and beads H. 40 cm Baule Blolo bian figure, Ivory Coast H. 15 ¾ in Provenance: - Henri Lecler, Geneva - Parke Bernet, New York, December 7, 1968, lot 57 - Private collection Admirable for its volumes and the sensitivity of its modelling, this Baule effigy marvellously expresses the serenity of the male figure it embodies. This statue is part of the corpus of blolo bian, or "spouses of the afterlife", to whom the Baule devoted their individual and family care. Sculpted to offer the mystical spouses of their possessors a receptacle in which to incarnate, the blolo bian effigies offer the image of "the ideal of physical perfection, with the subtle inflections of life" (Boyer, Baule, Visions d'Afrique, 2008, p. 150).
