Baule Female Statue, Ivory Coast

Robert Duperrier, Paris, 1960s
John J. Klejman, New York
John Friede, New York, acquired from the above
Stuart Hollander, Saint Louis, acquired from the above
Merton D. Simpson, New York, acquired from the above
American Private Collection, acquired from the above on March 12, 2002

Pierre Meauzé, L'art nègre: sculpture, Paris, 1967, color plate 75
Pierre Meauzé, African Art. Sculpture, Cleveland and New York , 1968, color plate 75

Excellent condition for an object of this type and age. Losses to hair as seen in photographs. Attachments fragile. Minor nicks, dents, and scratches. Exceptionally fine reddish brown patina with some remains of pigment. Holes in underside for insertion of posts on base.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This magnificent standing female figure is the work of an unknown Baule master, active in the 19th and early 20th century in central Ivory Coast. Sculptures by this artist are distinguished by the overall refinement of the carving, the fairly naturalistic body proportions, great attention to details such as a double-lined fold of the upper eyelid, a lustrous reddish-brown patina, and the attachment of plant fibers for hair. See a male figure, seated on a leopard, in The Menil Collection, Houston (Van Dyke 2008: 111, cat. 43); a second male figure, seated on a stool, in the American Museum of Natural History, New York (Vogel 1988: 163); a third male figure, seated on a leopard, and a male mask, both previously in the collection of Pierre Vérité (Enchères Rive Gauche, Paris, June 17&18, 2006, lots 134 and 164).

Later works from this workshop still feature the attachment of fibers but are less refined, lack the aforementioned details and show a different, medium to dark brown patina. For an example of the latter see Vogel (1997: 189) and Christie's Paris, June 15, 2010, lot 30.

The upstanding composed posture, elegantly curved calves and thighs, beautiful coiffure, geometric scarification patterns and serene facial expression of the offered lot incarnate a physical and moral ideal within Baule society. In her discussion of a iconographically related male and female couple of Baule figures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vogel (1997: 236) explains this ideal: the figures' beautiful "coiffures, and their refined scarifications demonstrate their desire to please; their clean, healthy skin, and rounded muscles show they can work successfully, producing food and crafting the things needed by society. At ease in the world, their flexed legs show compressed energy, and the muscular tension of alertness."

LaGamma (2000: 23) adds: from "a Baule perspective, human experience evolves out of and remains inextricably tied to the ancestral world (blolo) - referred to as 'the village of truth' - which controls and determines the fate of the living. Blolo affects the quality of harvests or the availability of game as well as the physical well-being and fertility of members of the community. The underlying causes and solutions to collective and individual difficulties that arise are relayed by diviners. This information [was believed to be revealed to the diviners] by the omniscient gods and ancestors within blolo through various methods, such as dreams, dances performed while in trance, and several divinatory instruments [...]. Diviners commission[ed] figurative works as a means of attracting [the attention of bush sprits, called asye usu] and bringing them out of the bush and into the village. The sculpture is described as asye usu's 'stool,' because the spirit uses it as a resting point. Such works represent idealized male or female figures in their prime, which the asye usu consider desirable forms to inhabit." Artists commissioned with the creation of sculptures used in divination had to follow closely the instructions of the diviners who might have been told certain details about the figure's required physical appearance, posture,
scarification marks, jewelry and hairstyle by the asye usu bush spirit itself, often during a dream. According to LaGamma (loc. cit.), the "level of artistry directly affect[ed] their owner's ability to prophesize by seducing nature spirits and inducing them to divulge insights into the human condition." Vogel (1997: 221) continues: "The largest, oldest and most elaborate Baule figure sculptures are made as the loci for gods and spirits that possess their human partners and send messages through them in trance state."