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SAM'S collection
Photo: Paul Macapia
Seated male figure
Photo: Paul Macapia

Seated male figure

Maker Baule
Label TextAll Baule human-figure sculptures (waka sran or "person of wood") are made for private shrines that belong to and serve single individuals. Spirit spouse figures such as this "help their human partners broadly in their lives, and can spread their good will to the children or spouse of their partner. More rarely, a spirit spouse will help a clairvoyant or diviner to foretell the future for clients, or will produce some other specialized talent or activity (such as singing or dancing skills)." (Susan Vogel, 1997) Spirit spouse shrines are established in the corner of the sleeping room of the spirit's human partner. The sculptures contained in these shrines were meant for private contemplation. Prominent display of these sculptures in art museums and collections is far different from the intimate context in which they were once seen.
Object number81.17.233
Provenance[Ed Primus, Los Angeles, California]; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia
Exhibition HistoryCleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10 - Sept. 1, 1968 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Oct. 10 - Dec. 1, 1968). Text by William Fagg. Cat. no. 83. Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 68-69, reproduced pl. 90. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 36-37, reproduced pl. 11.Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela. African Art: From Crocodiles to Convertibles in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1987; cat. no. 8, pp. 16-17, reproduced.
Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
Dimensions30 1/2 x 8 x 8 1/4 in. (77.5 x 20.3 x 21 cm)
MediumWood
Seated male figure
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.232
Photo: Paul Macapia
Ivorian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.225.1
Ivorian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.238
Photo: Paul Macapia
Ivorian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.225.2
Ivorian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.237
Mother and Child
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.234
Mask (Goli Gulin)
Ivorian
20th century
Object number: 81.17.228
Photo: Paul Macapia
Ivorian
late 19th-early 20th century
Object number: 81.17.235
Elephant mask for Dye ensemble
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.252
Gu mask
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.253
Zamble mask
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.254
Face mask (Kpelie-yehe)
Ivorian
Object number: 81.17.259