Baule Female Figure on Custom Base Côte d'Ivoire Rohner Collection

This intricately carved Baule female figure from Côte d'Ivoire showcases the refined craftsmanship and idealized forms characteristic of Baule sculpture. The figure reflects the artistic traditions of the Baule people, known for their expressive wooden carvings and attention to human beauty and detail.

Baule figures are traditionally associated with spiritual beliefs and are often categorized as representations of asie usu, or bush spirits, and spirit spouses connected to the spirit world. Figures representing asie usu were used by trance diviners known as komien and kept in shrines within the diviner's home, where the spirit could inhabit or symbolically reside within the carving. These figures were sometimes covered with white clay to convey otherworldliness and spiritual significance. Diviners used such objects in spiritual practices, offering public performances or private counsel associated with the spirit world.

Provenance: John R. Rohner Collection
Rohner, a museum curator for decades, aimed his practiced eye for authenticity to African art beginning in the early 1980s. His passion for this art only grew through the decades he built his collection––always with an aim for a broad and representative array of pieces. The collection appears in his book, Art Treasures from African Runners (2000, University Press of Colorado). 

Item #47 on pg. 43

157459