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Female Spirit Spouse Figure (blolo bla)

Female Spirit Spouse Figure (blolo bla)

On View

Not currently on view

Unknown

Baulé believe a person is married to both an earthly and a spirit spouse. This sculpture honored its owner’s spirit partner to bring peace, luck, and money. Scarifications on her face and belly individualized and enhanced her idealized beauty. The figure stood in the owner’s bedroom where, once a week, he slept alone so they could be together in the dream world.
Artist
Unknown (Ivorian, Baulé People)
Title
Female Spirit Spouse Figure (blolo bla)
Date
late 19th-early 20th century
Medium
Wood and coral
Dimensions
13 5/8 x 3 x 3 1/2 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of Lester Wunderman
Accession No.
62.3.6
Classification
Sculpture
Geography
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)

Related

Acquired by Lester Wunderman (New York, NY) between January 1957 [1] and May 1962 (when he made contact with UW–Madison staff about the collection) from an as-yet unknown European source; July 1962, given by Lester Wunderman to the University of Wisconsin–Madison; 1967, transferred to UW–Madison’s Elvehjem Art Center (now called the Chazen Museum of Art). [Last researched by Chazen staff 4/28/2023] [1] when he first began collecting African art, according to the preface of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalogue "Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection"

  • Negro Heritage: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 11/1/1968–6/11/1969

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