Photographs © Tim Hamill
BAULE, Door 10, 58", $1500, SOLD, Ivory Coast
Baule doors share the careful execution characteristic of other Baule sculpture. Unlike most of the Baule masks and figures, however, the doors were not secret and were always on view. The elegant low reliefs depict figures, heads, crocodiles, birds, objects and abstract patterns with precision and balanced asymmetry, permanent displays of Baule artistic skill. Often used as doors to inner rooms, they do not show the wear of exposure to the elements.
Among the motifs are figures (or a figure) with a diviner's gong and mallet, joined by a cord. The figure(s) are bush spirits, there are dishes to feed them, plus a leopard and sheathed knives, symbols of might and royalty.
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