SNK 1212-6
Male ‘blolo bian’ Figure with Coin Amulet ‘Queen Elisabeth I’, Baule, Ivory Coast
This elegantly carved male figure with the typical short arms and strong, muscular legs comes from the Baule people of Ivory Coast well known for the quality and detail of their carving.
The Baule people in Ivory Coast imagine that every married adult, whether man or woman, has a ‘spirit spouse’. The man has a ‘spiritual wife’, called ‘blolo bla’, while the woman has a ‘spiritual husband’, called ‘blolo bian’. These invisible spirits live in the afterlife, in the spirit world, or in the ‘bush’. The carvers of the Baule represent them as small sculptures, which the commissioner preserves in their bedrooms. It is possible to communicate with these ‘spirit spouses’ (in the shape of such figures), ask them for advice, discuss problems, etc. The present, typical male ‘blolo bian’ figure’ is carved of hard wood and dyed dark. It displays all the typical features of the Baule style: the finely lined hairstyle, large eyes with highly curved eyebrows, small, round ears, a flat, long nose and a small mouth, as well as the scarification marks typical of the tribe between the eyes, on both temples, cheeks and at both corners of the mouth. The figure stands on a rounded base.
The coin on his neck with the signature of Queen Elizabeth I or Elisabeth Queen of England (1533 –1603) is a strong symbol of this ‘blolo bian’ and emphasizes the female admirer’s ambitions.
Age: Est. beg. 20th Century (before 1930).
Measure: H: 34 cm (13,4″), W: 6 cm (2,4″)
Condition: Despite age, this dark brown shiny figure with its characteristic hairstyle and scarifications and good, old usage patina is in a particularly fine condition. A minor crack runs from the back of the shoulders to the body end, another one is on the base at the back.
Provenance: Private Danish collection. According to the heirs, it was either acquired directly from Lau (Laurence) Sunde’s collection in Copenhagen, which dates back to the 1940s, or Lau (Laurence) Sunde was an adviser to the collector.
Full description of Lau (Laurence) Sunde will be forwarded by request.
Literature: Ravenhill, Philip (1996). Dreams and Reverie: Images of Otherworld Mates Among the Baule, West Africa. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 2. ISBN 1-56098-650-6.
Click here for more information about the Baule people
Request price for ‘blolo bian’ Figure
Full description of Lau (Laurence) Sunde will be forwarded by request.
Click here for more information about the Baule people
