The Baule live across the Ivory Coast area, and have an economy based primarily on sedentary agriculturism. They have thus been able to build up a considerable political and economic stronghold, which has in turn given rise to a strong ritual and artistic heritage. Their own creation story relates to an ancient migration, in which the queen was forced to sacrifice her son in order to ford a mighty river. So upset was she that all she could say was “baouli” (“the child is dead”), thus giving rise to the tribe’s name.

Blolo bian (male) and Blolo bla (female) spirit spouses are perhaps the Baule’s greatest artistic and psycho-social achievement, but they are also renowned for sculptures representing bush spirits (Asie usu) – mischievous and potentially malevolent inhabitants of the “bush”, or dark country beyond the boundary of the village – as well as dance masks, prestige items (often made of gold) and a range of highly decorated secular objects such as doors, heddle pulleys and culinary equipment.

The fact that many such pieces have a centuries- old patina from handling and libations would seem to suggest that pieces can be inherited, and that the sculptures can either contain more than one spouse, or that s/he can be replaced by the spouse of the new owner. This is particularly the case with valuable or very well-carved pieces. Like most other human societies, the Baule are prey to conspicuous consumption, which is a central key to asserting one’s status in the village, and thus one’s power and influence. While their carving is among the most refined and restrained in Africa, therefore, artists vie to produce more impressive and beautiful carvings which are often decorated or adorned by their proud owners.

The current piece is a case in fact. Most unusually, it has been carved from ivory, which was viewed as being at least as expensive as gold if not more so by indigenous West African societies. It depicts a bearded man with a highly serene expression standing on slightly flexed legs atop an integrated round pedestal base, his hands clasping his protruding stomach. The musculature of the arms and legs is accurately and sensuously carved. The face and head are beautifully rendered in the traditional Baule manner, with hooded almond eyes, an inverted T-bar nose, wide, pouting lips and a tri-forked beard with ornaments decorating the tip of each fork. The face is decorated with four diamond- shaped scarifications on the forehead, two strips of four scars joining the edges of the eyes to the ears, and two strips of beaded scars joining the edges of the nose to the jawline. The coiffure is rendered as a series of crested waves, denoted by herringbone hatching; it is demarcated by a double band of what is probably intended to be textile, wrapped around the head above the ears. There are further rectangular scars on the back, level with the shoulders and the hips. The angles of the limbs, the carving of fingers/toes and the care taken with tiny details combine with the graceful lines of the piece to produce a highly harmonious composition.