Baule Colonial Polychrome Male Figure, 1900 CE - 1940 CE
Wood
12.2
LSO.251
This colourful figure is a highly enigmatic work, made by the Baule tribe of West Africa. Their Ivory Coast homeland lends itself to sedentary agriculturism, so they have been able...
This colourful figure is a highly enigmatic work, made by the Baule tribe of West Africa. Their Ivory Coast homeland lends itself to sedentary agriculturism, so they have been able to build up a considerable political and economic stronghold, which has in turn given rise to a strong ritual and artistic heritage. Their own creation story relates to an ancient migration, in which the queen was forced to sacrifice her son in order to ford a mighty river. So upset was she that all she could say was baouli (the child is dead), thus giving rise to the tribe's name.
The sculptures made by the Baule reflect their belief system, and is intimately linked with the duality of the sexes and the civilised/wild character of the village vs. the bush. Bush spirits and spirit spouses otherwordly partners that appear in dreams, and who must be appeased are notable artistic accomplishments of the Baule, in addition to naturalistic and deconstructed zoomorphic figures and masks, which relate to cultic activity and ceremonial celebration of fertility, agriculture and appeasement of ancestors or potentially harmful natural forces. The current figure is unusual because the Baule are not usually much given to the decoration of figures with paint, and instead are rather traditional with respect to the styling of their figures and sculptures.
In most African and world cultures from the Stone Age onwards, red has been associated with birth and rebirth. It is therefore viewed as a female colour, and has been stylistically reiterated through the use of ochre in graves, fertility imagery with red as the dominant colour etc. It is this fact that leads to ambivalence in interpreting the significance of the current figure. The characteristics of the body make it most likely to be a blolo bian figure that is, an other-world man to whom a woman is married (the men have a blolo bla wife) and spends at least one night a week alone in his company, to act as a spiritual adviser to guide them through troubled periods of their lives. It has all the other characteristics that mark out a Baule blolo bian figure, from the ornate double-crested hairstyle to the cast-down eyes, serene expression, keloid scarifications (hatched oblongs) by the ears, and a long neck. Unusually, for the Baule are usually fairly rigorous in their decoration practices, the body is not only essentially unadorned but also nugatory in its detailing. It is painted comprehensively from the neck to the mid-thigh, and down to the wrist, presumably to represent some form of (European?) clothing. The face and exposed skin, however, are a glossy black. Finally, and enigmatically, the figure is sat upon a low stool, which is the only part of the sculpture apart from the head that is decorated as well as being painted. The stool is pedestal-shaped, with horizontal incised grooving from the base up to the base of the seat. It should be noted that seated figures always depict some socially elevated person, as hand-carved wooden stools are one of the clearest markers of social elevation in almost any African culture.
Almost all blolo statues of both sexes are standing with slightly flexed knees. Equally, they are almost never painted. Likewise, if a chief if represented he is usually seated, as in the current example, but also carrying some form of insignia or emphatic attention to detailing that underscores his elevated social status. On the basis of the figure overall proportions, it is believed that the figure dates to a time when polychrome painting was preferable to carving detailing onto a figure that is to say, a fairly short time into the colonial period. The figure is not sufficiently grandiose to be a chief, and it is instead likely that it represents an otherwordly husband who had been appealed to for divine assistance in conception, hence the colouring. The patina is excellent, with clear signs of use wear under the facial paint, and with slight but insignificant damage to the base. The forehead is "scarred" with circular lesions, but whether these were part of the design is difficult to ascertain. This is a beautiful and intriguing sculpture, from a dynamic and changeable period in African history.
The sculptures made by the Baule reflect their belief system, and is intimately linked with the duality of the sexes and the civilised/wild character of the village vs. the bush. Bush spirits and spirit spouses otherwordly partners that appear in dreams, and who must be appeased are notable artistic accomplishments of the Baule, in addition to naturalistic and deconstructed zoomorphic figures and masks, which relate to cultic activity and ceremonial celebration of fertility, agriculture and appeasement of ancestors or potentially harmful natural forces. The current figure is unusual because the Baule are not usually much given to the decoration of figures with paint, and instead are rather traditional with respect to the styling of their figures and sculptures.
In most African and world cultures from the Stone Age onwards, red has been associated with birth and rebirth. It is therefore viewed as a female colour, and has been stylistically reiterated through the use of ochre in graves, fertility imagery with red as the dominant colour etc. It is this fact that leads to ambivalence in interpreting the significance of the current figure. The characteristics of the body make it most likely to be a blolo bian figure that is, an other-world man to whom a woman is married (the men have a blolo bla wife) and spends at least one night a week alone in his company, to act as a spiritual adviser to guide them through troubled periods of their lives. It has all the other characteristics that mark out a Baule blolo bian figure, from the ornate double-crested hairstyle to the cast-down eyes, serene expression, keloid scarifications (hatched oblongs) by the ears, and a long neck. Unusually, for the Baule are usually fairly rigorous in their decoration practices, the body is not only essentially unadorned but also nugatory in its detailing. It is painted comprehensively from the neck to the mid-thigh, and down to the wrist, presumably to represent some form of (European?) clothing. The face and exposed skin, however, are a glossy black. Finally, and enigmatically, the figure is sat upon a low stool, which is the only part of the sculpture apart from the head that is decorated as well as being painted. The stool is pedestal-shaped, with horizontal incised grooving from the base up to the base of the seat. It should be noted that seated figures always depict some socially elevated person, as hand-carved wooden stools are one of the clearest markers of social elevation in almost any African culture.
Almost all blolo statues of both sexes are standing with slightly flexed knees. Equally, they are almost never painted. Likewise, if a chief if represented he is usually seated, as in the current example, but also carrying some form of insignia or emphatic attention to detailing that underscores his elevated social status. On the basis of the figure overall proportions, it is believed that the figure dates to a time when polychrome painting was preferable to carving detailing onto a figure that is to say, a fairly short time into the colonial period. The figure is not sufficiently grandiose to be a chief, and it is instead likely that it represents an otherwordly husband who had been appealed to for divine assistance in conception, hence the colouring. The patina is excellent, with clear signs of use wear under the facial paint, and with slight but insignificant damage to the base. The forehead is "scarred" with circular lesions, but whether these were part of the design is difficult to ascertain. This is a beautiful and intriguing sculpture, from a dynamic and changeable period in African history.