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Baule Female Blolo Bla (Spirit Wife Figure) Sculpture, Côte d'Ivoire #775
$ 1,985.00 $ 992.50
- Baule Female Blolo Bla (Spirit Wife Figure) Sculpture, Côte d'Ivoire #775
- A female Baule sculpture, of the Tiébissou region, close to Yamoussoukro.
- Measurements: 55cm; 22" approx.
- Provenance: Amadou Bouaflé, during his performance 30.12.2019 in his house Abidjan, Ivory Coast (Last photo).
- The Baule believe that, in the Otherworld called Blolo, all human beings were married before birth. These Spirit Spouses called Blolo Bian, meaning 'Spirit Husband', and Blolo Bla, meaning 'Spirit Wife', follow them into their human lives by way of human-figure sculptures called Waka Sran, or 'Person in Wood'. Baule People carve these figures to represent their Otherworld Spouses and they believe that these Spirits have influence over their human lives.
- Spirit Figures are intended to serve a single individual and have private Shrines in the home dedicated to them. When a Baule Person undergoes some form of distress, be it emotional, physical or spiritual, he or she might consult a Komien, or Diviner. Divination usually reveals that one’s Spirit Spouse has become jealous or angry and is the cause of such distress. Oftentimes, the proposed solution is to devote a Shrine, called Tata, in which the figure becomes the centre and its vengeful spirit can be appeased.