Blolo bian Baoulé statue Ivory Coast Wood, beads Late 19th century Height: 47.5 cm Provenance: Private collection, France Private collection, France, before 1960 Renaud Vanuxem Collection, Paris Richard Vinatier Collection, Avignon (inv. n°212) Bibliography: Object published in the book Sculptures Baoulé, Renaud Vanuxem, 2020, reproduced on pages 39, 99 and 122. Distinguished by the profusion and diversity of traditional bodily markings covering its body, the bewitching naturalism of its features and the age of its patina, this blolo bian statue illustrates the powerful symbolic link between beauty and efficacy in Baule belief. Blolo bian - for men - and blolo bla - for women - are personal objects designed to house the spirit of a mystical spouse living in a parallel world. Crafted by diviners to appease this otherworldly being, held responsible for bad luck relating to health or fertility, these "wooden people" (waka sran) of idealized beauty live alongside the earthly spouse, who honors them daily to activate their magical energy. Exalting the beauty canons of the Baoulé statuary corpus Baoulé statuary, this standing figure, on a fluted circular base, displays a conventional pose, a stature that is both dynamic, rendered by the bending of the legs, and rigid. The realism of the figure underscores the singular talent of the diviner-sculptor, who transcended matter to give form to the mystical and the invisible. The attention to anatomical detail is particularly striking, especially in the treatment of the hands and feet, with their finely drawn fingers and toes. The back features a beautiful musculature, rendered by the design of the shoulder blades and the hollow of the spine. The treatment of the joints, particularly the knees, arms and wrists, is particularly emphasized. This finesse of execution lends a surprising depth and reality to this mystical spouse. Reliefs and volumes are magnified by the ancient brown patina, whose kaolin highlights, reddish nuances and alternating smooth and crusty areas bear witness to its long ritual use. Body adornments - keloids, ornaments and hairstyles - are part of the physical ideal dear to the aesthetic Baule aesthetic. Carved in relief on the surface of the wood, the numerous ngolè marks offer beautiful variations in motifs, highlighting privileged parts of the body, such as the curve of the calf - with rare chevron-shaped marks, the long neck, particularly ornate, as is the abdomen - symbol of lineage and transmission, with its four horizontal rows of keloids, the back, which presents a more dynamic layout, and finally the head with the classic marks between the two eyes and on the temples. The adornments reflect the ever-increasing quest to embellish the effigy in order to increase its protective power. The hips are adorned with a belt of multicolored glass beads, the neck with a pearl necklace embellished with a gold jewel. The headdress, composed of four lateral grooves extending to the back of the headdress, is plated and finely incised. The grooved beard collar symbolizes maturity. The classicism of its aesthetic, the richness and delicacy of its ornamentation, and its expressiveness, imbued with a deep quietude and striking humanity, make this effigy one of the finest examples in the corpus. The expression 'o fa sran', literally meaning "it looks like a person", could have been attributed to it, to express the success of having fashioned an object so faithful to Baule principles. Philip Ravenhill adds on this subject: "The wooden form embodies human life and is part of the constitutive rules that define the person and shared humanity [....] The creation of the form is a material recognition of the existential personality of these spirits." ("Likeness and nearness: the intentionality of the head in Baule art", African Arts, 2000)