Ivory Coast, Baoule, Late 19th Century, Statuette Of A Wife From The Beyond, Known As Blolo Bla

Statuette of a Wife from the Beyond, known as Blolo Bla
Baoulé Culture, Côte d’Ivoire, late 19th – early 20th century
Material: Wood
Height: 36 cm
Provenance:
Parisian art market, 2012
Parisian art market, 2019
Private collection

Comparable works:
Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, former Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière Collection. Inv.70.2017.66.28, likely by the same sculptor.
Exhibition catalog "Sculptures Baoulé," 25 Years of Galerie Vanuxem, Paris, 2020: pp. 69, 76, and 136, featuring a very similar male model by the same sculptor.

This piece represents a beautiful young woman standing with her hands placed on her abdomen, a gesture symbolizing fertility. She bears numerous scarifications and an elaborate hairstyle.

The Blolo-bla symbolizes the mystical wife of its owner in the spiritual realm, known as the Blolo (the world of the beyond). This object is used within spiritual and ritual contexts.