Baule - Elfenbenskysten (Ingen mindstepris)

A male Baule (?) sculpture, Southern Ivory Coast, collected in the village Sahiwa, without feet the legs rise from a hemispherical base, a slender tubular torso with a protruding navel on the abdomen, framed by crescent-shaped scarifications, wide rounded shoulders, the thick arms are carved close to the body, a columnar thick neck supports an oval shaped head composed of high abstract features, a broard protruding mouth beneath a triangular nose, wide yet thin slit eyes, a domed forehead, the striated hairdo is pulled upwards; some small ages cracks, remnants of scarifications and former insect infestation, bown to reddish surface, partly glossy, intensive touchpatina at the neck. Certificate of provenance.

“The eastern coast of the Ivory Coast comprises an area of lagoons, where the population is divided into twelve different language groups The cultural and stylistic unity of these people justifies grouping the, together for the purposes of this chapter. Before colonization, each village was autonomous and, when threatened, they united to form a ‘confederation’. Unusually, these people are not governed by chiefs, although a man’s social position is determined by his age.”Source: Baquart, Jean-Baptiste. The Tribal Arts of Africa. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc. 1998.