The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 15, 2025

Female Figure from a Pair (asye usu)

late 1800s–early 1900s

Africa, West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Baule-style carver

Wood, resin, glass beads, plant fiber, and metal
Overall: 47.7 x 10 x 11 cm (18 3/4 x 3 15/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
Gift of Katherine C. White 1971.297.2
Location: 108A African

Did You Know?

Baule artists looked to the world around them to capture contemporary ideas and ideals of beauty; this figure's hairstyle would have been worn when the sculpture was 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)
  • Fagg, William, and Cleveland Museum of Art. 1968. African Tribal Images; the Katherine White Reswick Collection, no. 85. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art.
    "1972 Year in Review" Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 60, no. 3 (1973).
    Cleveland Museum of Art, and Henry John Drewal. 1989. African Art : A Brief Guide to the Collection : The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Museum, fig. 15.
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: selected works of African art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
    “A Walking Tour: The entire new museum wing by wing, with curators calling out a few favorite works in the collection.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 1 (January/February 2014): 8-33. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 12 archive.org
  • African Master Carvers: Known and Famous. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 26-July 16, 2017).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/26/2017-7/16/2017); “African Master Carvers: Known and Famous”.
    Object in Focus: Male and Female Spirit Spouse Figures. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 7-March 9, 2003).
    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=Female Figure from a Pair (asye usu)|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=15 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.297.2