Baule Blolo or Spirit Spouse Figure

He smiles slightly, beneath a crested coiffure. A diviner, it seems, had insisted.

This thirteen-inch Baule figure from Ivory Coast was carved in the 20th century as a spirit spouse. Figures of this type were made at a diviner’s direction and then cared for privately, as a way of keeping peace with a partner in the other world. The wood is largely natural, with traces of red stain on the lower legs and face. Long slender arms reach to the hips, and he wears carved shorts. A long crack runs down the chest, and the feet rest on a rectangular base that has split at the center.

Peace, it seems, was kept.