African Ivory Coast Baule Carved Wood Ceremonial Horned Mask. 

Size: 8 x 15 x 6 1/2 in. 

#4693 . 

The Baule or Baoulé are an Akan people and one of the largest ethnicities on the Ivory Coast of Africa. Traditionally farmers who live in the center of the region between the Bandama and N’Zi Rivers, they share many similarities with their neighbors, the Yaoure, Gur, and the Gagu, although the Gagu speak Mande and the Gur speak a dialect of the Senufo language. The Baule Kingdom was established around 1730 by Queen Abla Pokou, part of the schism with the Mande Kingdom that saw many Akan descendents migrate there from Ghana. She subjugated several of the indigenous tribes and united them as a kingdom that lasted until 1893, with the annexation of the Ivory Coast as a colony of France, making up a part of French West Africa. In 1960 the Ivory Coast regained their independence and became a subnational monarchy, with cooperation between the tribes key to their rejection of colonialism. The Baule became the dominant tribe in the region during the 1960s and 70s due to their control of the Ivorian cocoa boom, and also provided a significant quantity of rubber and coffee to the global market. However, since the 2000s several civil wars have broken out, which has made the country one of the most dangerous on the continent. The Baule people are still well known for their artistic talent, with refined and extremely diverse sculptures. The sculptures are mainly face masks and human figurines, but also include a great variety of work in gold, bronze, and ivory. There is significant cross-over between the works of the Baule and the Yaoure, whose adherence to animism has influenced the subject of most of the masks. Their ram-headed figures, called Bonu Amuen, are particularly common, and both tribes view their work as not only a physical creation but imbued with spiritual energies, often representing protective or ancestral beings. When used in dances, it is common for the dancers to be “possessed” by the spirits within their masks, and sometimes cause havoc or damage as a destructive outlet for the beings in order to prevent them causing more widespread mischief, such as crop failure, disease, or political trouble. Because these two tribes deem their works sacred, and often try to restrict who can view them (with women forbidden to see them at all), their pieces are considered highly collectible and rare.