11 - Statue masculine Baoulé, Côte d’Ivoire

Statue masculine Baoulé, Côte d’Ivoire Wood, raffia, and fabric H. 39.5 cm Height with base: 44.5 cm With its solemn elegance and refined composition, this Baoulé male statuette stands out for the nobility of its posture and the subtle balance of its proportions. The slender, carefully articulated body rests on slightly bent legs. The arms, arranged in distinct poses, bring the figure to life. They accentuate the gesture, while the long neck draws the eye to a face of great serenity. The head, deliberately emphasized, embodies all the sophistication of the sculpture. The almond-shaped eyes, delicately arched eyebrows, accentuated eyelids, straight nose, and finely drawn mouth lend the work an expressiveness that is at once serene, introspective, and regal. The carefully structured, high hairstyle reflects the attention paid to appearance and ancient fashions in Baoulé statuary. According to Susan Vogel, the aesthetic quality of the sculpture was itself essential to its ritual effectiveness. The spirits were believed to choose effigies that met their standards of beauty. Provenance - Collected in situ before 1970 - Jan Dessers Collection, Hasselt (Belgium), then passed down to the Eddy Dessers Collection - Private collection, Brussels Littérature Comparable subjects featured in: Hélène Joubert (ed.), Éclectique: A 21st-Century Collection, exhibition catalog [Paris, Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, November 23, 2016–April 2, 2017], Paris, Flammarion, 2016, pp. 136–138