Null MALI - BAMBARA People
Boli fetish.
Composite material
Height: 22 cm
(Late p…

Description

MALI - BAMBARA People Boli fetish. Composite material Height: 22 cm (Late production) "The boli embodies a fetish that played a fundamental role in the ritual life of Bambara villages, serving to accumulate and control the natural life force known as nyama for the spiritual benefit of the community. Its symbolic power is matched by its patina, its thick, composite material, made of raw earth covered with sacrificial layers. Here, the quadruped has a cracked, earthy patina. "In the eyes of the adepts, it is perfectly futile to clearly define a power whose strength is precisely to take on multiple forms, to disfigure and re-figure itself ceaselessly" (Colleyn in Jacomijn-Snoep, 2009, p. 37)." Lots will be available for collection by appointment on Tuesday, May 14, at the Paris XVth arrondissement (Métro Sèvre-Lecourbe or Pasteur).

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MALI - BAMBARA People Boli fetish. Composite material Height: 22 cm (Late production) "The boli embodies a fetish that played a fundamental role in the ritual life of Bambara villages, serving to accumulate and control the natural life force known as nyama for the spiritual benefit of the community. Its symbolic power is matched by its patina, its thick, composite material, made of raw earth covered with sacrificial layers. Here, the quadruped has a cracked, earthy patina. "In the eyes of the adepts, it is perfectly futile to clearly define a power whose strength is precisely to take on multiple forms, to disfigure and re-figure itself ceaselessly" (Colleyn in Jacomijn-Snoep, 2009, p. 37)." Lots will be available for collection by appointment on Tuesday, May 14, at the Paris XVth arrondissement (Métro Sèvre-Lecourbe or Pasteur).

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Estim. 7 000 - 10 000 EUR

Boli fetish, Bamana, Mali Wood, unctional material, feathers, composite material Early 20th century Length: 66 cm Provenance: Merton D: Merton D. Simpson Gallery, New-York French private collection Among the Bamana, nyama is an energy that permeates the universe, beings and objects, giving rise to the creation of ritual objects. Boliw fetishes, linked to the Kono male initiation society, belong exclusively to their members, who acquire esoteric knowledge of the natural and spiritual world throughout their apprenticeship. The process of designing these powerful and impressive Boli involves a complex ritual performed by the leaders of the secret Jow initiation societies, using their knowledge of pharmacopoeia or "tree science" (jiridon). Around a wooden frame wrapped in white cotton cloth, a creature is fashioned from a mixture of earth and beeswax, the whole covered in clay and coagulated blood, recalling, according to Jean-Michel Colleyn, the "force of movement". Colleyn, the "force of liquid movement inseparably linked to life. ("Images, Signes, Fétiches À Propos de l'art Bamana (Mali)", In Cahiers d'Études Africaines, 2009). The thick crusty patina covering the surface represents the power of the nyama, the boli acting as a receptacle for this ambiguous vital energy, oscillating between Good and Evil. Like this power, "whose strength is to take on multiple forms, to constantly disfigure and re-figure itself" (ibid), boli's indistinct, shifting appearance contributes to its inherently elusive character. A veritable living system, its organic life cycle evolves slowly, as the sacrificial composite materials are anointed and poured. The general shape of the boli takes the form of anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures, as this piece suggests. Our example, whose appearance resembles a quadruped with thick, bulbous volumes, is distinguished by the significant organic flow, a superb whitish discharge starting from the hump and extending along the curves of the sacred sculpture. The boli's thick sacrificial patina bears witness to its repeated use and age. Closely linked to sacred rituals and processes, boli fetishes evolve over time, created as part of religious and magical practices that involve phases of preparation, activation and ritual manipulation, they bring protection, healing or prosperity to the community. As Colleyn explains Colleyn, the boli "depends on who takes care of it: if it is neglected after being made, it produces no positive effects, causes disasters, then decays and dies. However, if the fetish object is feared, it can also fall into disrepair, be discarded or destroyed by means of a few rites of annulment. Sometimes, it is "forgotten" in a sanctuary that soon collapses, or returned to the society from which it was received. Our sculpture, now removed from its cult context, is detached from its traditional function, and only the melancholy beauty conferred on the effigy remains. A singular work which, transcending all notions of temporality and space, captures the essence of the eternal.

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