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Seated male figure for a komien (trance diviner)

Baule artist Baoulé
19th–mid-20th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 341
This idealized male figure, composed of a series of harmoniously intersecting planes, was intended to entice an unruly asye usu, or nature spirit. Kept in a diviner’s shrine room as one half of a male-female pairing, it would have served as the spirit’s seat during consultations to determine the underlying cause of a client’s concerns, including physical maladies. The prominence of an Akan-style seat of office underscores the historical ties between the Baule culture and more centralized Akan groups in Ghana.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Seated male figure for a komien (trance diviner)
  • Artist: Baule artist
  • Date: 19th–mid-20th century
  • Geography: central Côte d'Ivoire
  • Culture: Baule peoples
  • Medium: Wood, glass beads
  • Dimensions: H. 20 1/16 x W. 5 1/4 x D. 7 1/8 in. (51 x 13.3 x 18.1 cm)
  • Classification: Wood-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1969
  • Object Number: 1978.412.425
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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