Baule - Norsunluurannikko (Ei pohjahintaa)

A Baule male figure, Ivory Coast, region Daoukro, collected in the visllage Kokoti, standing on an oval base, knees slightly bent, his two thin hands are touching his stomach, his strong, slender torso is mounted by a thick cylindric neck who carries a large oval shaped head, the features of the face are calm, relaxed, a small mouth, half closed eyes looking downwards, the hairdo is pulled back. The neck has some scarifications, sign of beauty and status in Baule culture, he is wearing some fabric around the waist to cover the genitals, there is also a white beaded necklace around the waist; some wear throughout the sculpture sign of use, cracks in the hairdo, middle of the bust can be noticed.

“To articulate historians, the most consistent features of Baule art is a kind of peaceful containment. Faces tend to have downcast eyes and figures most often hold their ams against the body. […] Among their abundant art forms, the Baule people continue to place the greatest value on masks and figure sculptures, which remain the only sculptural art still widely used in Baule villages. While there is a difference between the Baule view of their objects and that of Western connoisseurs, there are points of agreement. Aesthetic appreciation is one: Baule artist, and individual owners of objects, certainly sometimes enjoy the beauty of these objects and the skill it took coproduce them.

Ornaments above the face are chosen for their beauty and have no iconographic significance” p.141

Lit: Baule: African Art, Western Eyes. Susan M.Vogel 1997.