Spirit Spouse (Blolo Bian) (Primary Title)
Male Figure (Former Title)

Unknown (Artist)

19th–20th century
Baule
wood, glass beads, fiber
Côte d'Ivoire
Overall: 14 1/2 × 2 1/2 × 3 5/8 in. (36.83 × 6.35 × 9.21 cm)
82.132
Baule artists are noted for producing handsome sculptures that are crisply detailed and carefully polished. Such figures represent the spiritual spouses of a man or a woman. The Baule believe everyone has a spouse before they are born, and they keepa statue of the spirit-spouse in order to maintain a good relationship with it. Beauty is important, because the statue must be physically appealing to the spirit that is to dwell in it.
Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
"Spirit of the Motherland." Roanoke: Museum of Western Virginia. September 1995- January 1996. Newport News: Peninsula Fine Arts Center: January- May 1996.
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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