Baule figurine - Ivory Coast - Baoulé - Akan people - good Ashanti - African Folk Art - Sculptures - 1990s

Object: Male Baule figure
Category: Figures / Figurines
Materials: Wood, cowrie shells, leather and plastic beads
Colours: Brown, red-brown, white and yellow
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Dimensions:
Height approx. 22.4" (57 cm)
Width approx. 4.7" (12 cm)
Depth approx. 3.5" (9 cm)
Weight approx. 3 lb (1.35 kg)
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Country of origin: Ivory Coast
Year of manufacture: 1990s
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Condition / defects: The figure is in good condition. There are also a few cracks in the wood.
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History Baule:
The origin of good the Baule is not clear. According to popular myth, it was a group of Ashanti who moved west from present-day Ghana to what is now Ivory Coast as a result of a dispute over the succession to the throne. They were led by Queen Abla Poku. She sacrificed a child on the impassable Comoé River, and the water then divided, allowing her people to cross. After their settlement, the Baule split into various sub-groups. This myth is associated with a war of succession that took place among the Ashanti between 1725 and 1750. The area in Ivory Coast where the Baule settled was sparsely populated by the Senufo and Guro. Both ethnic groups are regarded as sources for Baule art genres. The truthfulness of the origin myth, which was first published by Maurice Delafosse in 1900, cannot be confirmed by archaeological finds or written sources and is therefore doubted. In 1914, Delafosse himself distanced himself from accepting the myth uncritically. Susan Mullin Vogel assumes a Ur-Baule population in the Ivory Coast. Oral tradition, verbal cues, and forms in art would point to Mamla culture during the 18th century and earlier. These are still present as a subgroup of the Baule.
The Baule fought the longest struggle against the French colonizers in West Africa.
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