Traditional African Art by Shakarov Avner Senatorova Lyubov

Author:Shakarov, Avner, Senatorova, Lyubov
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2015-07-29T16:00:00+00:00

Fig. 34. Standing Male Figure (Baule, Ivory Coast). Wood, height 18½ in. (47 cm).

Baule spirit spouse figures are hidden and are not often seen outside the family compound. The fine example reproduced here represents a male figure (Fig. 34). Scarification on the abdomen, neck and back probably duplicate those found on living persons, since these details give the idealized figure a particular personality. The figures are elegant and well polished, with elaborate hairstyling and scarification.

The Baule use three major types of masks: a helmet mask, usually in the shape of a buffalo head; a human face with rounded realistic features; and a mask related to Goli festivals. Carvers display extraordinary diversity when it comes to carving masks. A great sense of stylization and attention to detail produces some of the most elegant objects in all of African art. Masks originally had specific uses connected with fertility, harvest, and averting evil. They were also used for general protection of villages and festivities (Fig. 33 [see C2]). Masks might also be worn during festivities related to dignitaries’ visits to the village. Baule wooden masks and figurines, notable for intricate decorative details and careful treatment of texture, are highly appreciated by European collectors.

Many sculptors developed their own distinct signature using naturalistic and abstract elements. This mask was made by one of the best known of them, to whom researchers have given the name “Master of Baule.” Masks by this sculptor typically have an elegantly zigzagged hairline.

The mask illustrated here (Fig. 35) presents an elongated human face with a protruding, circular mouth and nearly closed eyes, under a pair of backswept horns. Raised scarifications compliment the physical beauty typical of the mask. Scarification around the eyes and mouth imitate the marks given initiates during rites of passage into adulthood. Baule carvers are most concerned with depicting accurate human and or animal features in their sculptures. Such masks were meant to portray someone who is physically beautiful.

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