Baule Asie Usu Figure - SOLD OUT

In African art, the Baoulé believe in the existence of geniuses of the bush that take human form. Few people have seen them, but diviners say they are ugly, hunchbacked, hairy. Invisible to everyone, they have a strange affection for some humans. Beautiful piece of traditional African art.

Problem: for a spirit, how to enter into intelligence with a living? To possess it, literally. The genius seizes a person who becomes a medium, a komyenfwé, able to give information on the future, the care to bring. Voluptuous and mischievous, these spirits become clement and beneficial if they are honored. How to act on them? To bring them to "live" temporarily in a work of art that will absorb their power, to regulate it. The statue is not the "portrait" of the genie, just its interior. According to the expression, "genius lives in the statuette" (Asia usu i tran olè). Or it will be the "stool" on which it will arise, which explains why some of these figures, like this one, represent characters sitting on a traditional tribal seat.

Sold out
00665

Data sheet

Presumed dating
Mid XXth century
Size
43 x 10 cm
Ethnic group
Baoulé / Baulé
Material(s)
Wood
Country
Ivory Coast
Origin
Tribal art collection Belgium
Condition
Excellent

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