Female Figure (blolo bla)
Masters of Sakassou (also called Nzipri Workshop)
c. 1840-1880
Object PlaceCote d'Ivoire
Medium/TechniqueWood and kaolin (a fine, white clay)
Dimensions60.96 cm (24 in.)
Credit LineBequest of William E. Teel
Accession number2014.324
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
The Baule peoples believe that everyone has a spouse in his or her previous existence who can affect good or bad fortune. This figure represents a man's wife in the other world who, like his wife in this world, must not be neglected. Men and women keep their otherworld spouses in shrines and honor and propitiate them. This image's serene face and delicate scarification and hair epitomize the Baule ideal of female beauty.
Provenance1994, acquired in Côte d’Ivoire by Charles Davis, Davis Gallery, New Orleans [see note]; April 1, 1995, sold by Davis Gallery to William and Bertha Teel, Marblehead, MA; 2014, bequest of William Teel to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 26, 2014)NOTE: According to Mr. Teel’s notes.
550–331 B.C.
