Figural Staff

Probably late 19th century

Baule
Côte d’Ivoire
Coastal West Africa

Until the 1950s, along the eastern edge of the Baule region carved staffs like this example were made to honor important ancestors. That practice has given way to rituals focusing on stools and gold inherited from deceased family members. In the example displayed here an idealized male figure is seated on a stool, with three faces below him that may symbolize wealth in the form of wives. The drum carved farther down likely alludes to success in battle.

On View: Arts of Africa, Gallery 137

Culture: Baule
Title: Figural Staff
Origin: Côte d'Ivoire
Date: 1875–1900
Medium: Wood and iron
Dimensions: H. 160 cm (63 in.)
Credit Line: Restricted gift of Bernice Hirsch, William Hartmann, and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert R. Molner in memory of Milton Hirsch; African and Amerindian Art Purchase Fund
Reference Number: 1985.62

Susan M. Vogel. Baule: African Art/Western Eyes, exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery, 1997, pg. 202 (ill.).
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 28, pp. 86-87 (ill.).

New Haven, Conn., Yale University Art Gallery, Baule: African Art/Western Eyes, Aug. 30, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998; traveled to Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 14–May 10, 1998, New York, Museum for African Art, Sept. 11, 1998–Jan. 3, 1999, Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Feb. 9–May 16, 1999, pp. 202-203 (ill.).

Milton and Bernice Hirsch, Chicago, Ill, by 1970 [on loan to the AIC as 170.1970 from July 1970 through July 1973 documented in curatorial file; acquisition justification by R. Townsend, 1985; undated photographic documentation of work]; consigned to Robert Barry, Chicago, IL [shipping order documented in curatorial file]. Michael Wyman Gallery, Chicago, Ill., by 1985 [acquisition documentation in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1985.

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