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Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)
Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)
Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)

Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_threequarter1_bw.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_threequarter1_bw.jpg)

Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_threequarter_PS2.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_threequarter_PS2.jpg)

Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_threequarter2_bw.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_threequarter2_bw.jpg)

Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_side_bw.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.61.3_print_side_bw.jpg)

Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3.jpg)

Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3.jpg)

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Male Figure (Waka Sran)

Arts of Africa

This figure most likely embodies a "spirit spouse"—the husband or wife every person is said to have had before birth. Through dreams, misfortune, and other signs, a person may learn that his or her spirit spouse feels neglected or jealous. One way to appease the spirit is to commission a carved figure of it and carefully nurture it with food offering and perhaps bathe and rub it with oil.

CULTURE Baule
MEDIUM Wood
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES early 20th century
DIMENSIONS 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
ACCESSION NUMBER 61.3
CREDIT LINE Frank L. Babbott Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Very finely carved. Has beard, scarification marks at corners of mouth, temples, forehead, around neck and on upper back; hairdress carefully detailed with knob at back. CONDITION: This piece is fragment: face is in fairly complete condition, but head, arms and lower torso are largely eaten away. Lower part of figure has been lost. Large check on left side of head.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Baule. Male Figure (Waka Sran), early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE front, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
"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.
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Baule. <em>Male Figure (Waka Sran)</em>, early 20th century. Wood, 11 x 3 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (27.9 x 9 x 10.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 61.3. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 61.3_front_PS2.jpg)

TAGS

African
Baule
Male Figure
Blolo Bian
20th Century
Wood
Carved
man
carving
beard
nude
rough
Scarification
Cultural
Beauty
Spirit spouce
Termites
ivory coast
fragmentary

TAGS

African
Baule
Male Figure
Blolo Bian
20th Century
Wood
Carved
man
carving
beard
nude
rough
Scarification
Cultural
Beauty
Spirit spouce
Termites
ivory coast
fragmentary

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