Androgine Figure

The Baulélike other peoples in Africa, they believe that everyone has a husband or wife in the other world and that they must be propitious so that we do not lack their help. The Blolo Blah, or wife of the hereafter, is the wife we have left in the other world when we come to this and Blolo Bian, the husband. They may appear in dreams and be jealous of the wife or husband of this world. The spirits of the other world manifest themselves to men in many ways, sometimes causing them damage and disorder in order to make themselves heard. And then, humans, in their dreams, receive the vision of the spirit that bothers them. It is always the double of the supernatural world, the mystical spouse. Therefore, to be favorable to them, and on the advice of the diviner and to be able to live in peace, a statue is to be carved that is the reflection of that spiritual spouse. The more beautiful the statue that represents them the more benevolent will be shown to the spouse of this world. It is kept in the bridal room or in a place picked up from the dwelling and given many attentions, offerings and food. When the person who possesses the statue dies, the statue is no longer of a raison d'être and is kept or destroyed by the descendants, or simply abandoned.

Mystical husband figure with a long-term appearance. Arms extended throughout the body and large hands on both sides of the navel. Three parallel and perpendicular rows of ventral scarifications. Embossed scarifications in the neck. Genital apparent. The male or female sex organs have no ninguIn Africa, it is a symbol of fertility and procreation.

Dark brown patina.