Skip Navigation

Collection Menu
Bamana. <em>Boli Figure, for the Kono Society</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)
Bamana. Boli Figure, for the Kono Society, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)
Bamana. <em>Boli Figure, for the Kono Society</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)

Bamana. Boli Figure, for the Kono Society, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)

Bamana. <em>Boli Figure, for the Kono Society</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.75.77_print_side1_bw.jpg)

Bamana. Boli Figure, for the Kono Society, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.75.77_print_side1_bw.jpg)

Bamana. <em>Boli Figure, for the Kono Society</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.75.77_print_side2_bw.jpg)

Bamana. Boli Figure, for the Kono Society, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.75.77_print_side2_bw.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Boli Figure, for the Kono Society

Arts of Africa

A boli is an abstract figure kept in a shrine belonging to a secret Bamana men's association. It is believed to be the embodiment of the spiritual powers of the society. These powers underlie the ability of the association to maintain social control. Today, the Kono society has lost its influence in most Bamana communities due to the conversion of Bamana to Islam.

The basic form of this boli resembles a highly simplified cow. It is composed of a wooden core over-modeled with materials such as mud, eggs, chewed kola nuts, sacrificial blood, urine, honey, beer, vegetable fiber, and cow dung. The use of blood, excrement, and urine reflects the belief that these organic substances possess extremely potent spiritual powers.

CULTURE Bamana
MEDIUM Clay and organic materials
  • Place Made: Ségou, Koulikouro, or Sikasso Region, Mali
    • DATES late 19th–early 20th century
    DIMENSIONS 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 75.77
    CREDIT LINE Gift of Georges Rodrigues
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Four legged animal without defined features. It has a flat rump, stands on four squat legs, has a hump on its back, and a rounded head. It is composed of a variety of materials: a hard wooden core covered with bark, plant fibers, clay and other materials. CONDITION: Very fragile with losses of outer layers: cleared, crackled and crumbling areas.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Bamana. Boli Figure, for the Kono Society, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 75.77_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Bamana. <em>Boli Figure, for the Kono Society</em>, late 19th–early 20th century. Clay and organic materials, 15 x 7 x 21 1/2 in. (38.1 x 17.8 x 54.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Georges Rodrigues, 75.77. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 75.77_SL1.jpg)

    TAGS

    Boli
    cow
    camel
    animal
    beast

    TAGS

    Boli
    cow
    camel
    animal
    beast

    RELATED OBJECTS

    Evening Glow, The Old Red Cow Summers Fruitful Pastures Moonrise Womans Belt (Sis Tichigi) Pipe Midsummer Black Pansy & Forget-Me-Nots (Pansy) Bag Cow and Dog Shooting for the Beef Carved Spoon with Five Animal Heads Water Jar Large Storage Jar Large Storage Jar Water Jar Bent-corner Box with Killer Whale Design Bush Cow Mask Kuma Mask Cow in an Enclosure; A Dog Barking at Her (Vache paissant dans un enclos; un chien aboie après elle) Cap, from 3 Piece Royal or Noble Costume Komo Society Mask Dance Headdress (Ci-wara Kun) Dance Headdress (Ci-wara Kun) Dance Headdres (Ci-wara Kun) Bottle with Stopper Dance Headdress (Ci-wara) Staff with Equestrian Figure Dance Headdress (Ci-wara) Hyena Mask, Kore Society Antelope Head Dance Headdress (Ci-wara) "Little Animal Head", Sogonikun, Ritual Piece Hyena Mask, Kore Society (Souroukou) Dance Headdress (Ci-wara) Dance Headdress (Ci-wara) Dance Headdress (Ci-wara)