Collection record · Objects & craft
Figure Pair (asye usu)
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated late 1800s–early 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Figure Pair (asye usu)
- Date
- late 1800s–early 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver
- Materials and technique
- Wood, resin, glass beads, plant fiber, and metal
- Dimensions
- Part 1: 49.5 x 9.1 x 13 cm (19 1/2 x 3 9/16 x 5 1/8 in.); Part 2: 47.7 x 10 x 11 cm (18 3/4 x 3 15/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1971.297
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Baule figures carved as pairs usually represent untamed spirits of the wilderness called asye usu. These spirits may intervene in the lives of individuals by taking possession of them. If this possession does not result in madness, it can lead to the human host’s becoming a diviner who can enter into a trance to reveal the causes of ailments and other misfortunes. People who feel their lives are being interrupted by the asye usu commission carvings representing idealized male and female forms whose grace and beauty in both anatomy and adornment will seduce the spirits and compel them to use the sculptures as their temporary homes.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Katherine C. White · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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