The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Figure Pair (asye usu)

Figure Pair (asye usu)

late 1800s–early 1900s
Wood, resin, glass beads, plant fiber, and metal
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.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1971.297
Location: 108A Sub-Saharan

Did You Know?

Baule artists looked to the world around them to capture contemporary ideas and ideals of beauty; these figures have hairstyles that would have been worn when the sculptures were carved.

Description

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.
  • ?-1971
    Katherine C. White (aka Katherine Merkel, Katherine Reswick)
    1971-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH by gift
  • Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. Reproduced: cat. 17, p. 64 - 65
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 14
  • Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; January 7- March 9, 2003. " Object in Focus: Male (blolo bian) and Female (blolo bla) Spirit Partner Figures, Africa, Ivory Coast, Baule, c. 1930s [wood; 1971.297.1-2] "
    CMA 1973: "Year in Review 1972," CMA Bulletin LX (March, 1973), p. 107, no. 38, repr. p. 105.
    CMA 1968: "African Tribal Images: The Katherine White Reswick Collection," cat. no. 85, repr.
  • {{cite web|title=Figure Pair (asye usu)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.297