This figure is an Other World figure which would probably have belonged to a Baule woman which is in keeping with the tradition that such figures are of the opposite sex:

'Your Other-World person is represented by a carved figure, about a foot or more in height, that you keep in your bedroom. You protect the figure from dirt. You pick it up and rub it with your hands or a cloth. You place small offerings of food or money at its feet. The figure is a constant reminder of a very special person that is otherwise invisible. Weeks become months. Months become years. Years become decades. The person in the Other World is still dreamt about regularly. It is a constant reminder of many dreams. It also reminds you of important events in your life - your marriage, the birth of your children, your success and social well-being. The figure embodies your private life of thought and your social life of family and community. The figure links together the dreamed-about Other World and the world of lived experience.'8

As can be seen in this example, elements of European dress and culture were incorporated in Other World figures from the early colonial period. The tradition continues, and Other World figures produced in the present day continue to reflect the changes in culture. In addition, many polychrome 'colon' figures produced in West Africa, specifically for sale to visitors, are derived from this genre of figurative carving. See Philip L Ravenhill, The Self and the Other: personhood and images among the Baule, C™te d'Ivoire, UCLA, Los Angeles, 1994, and Philip L Ravenhill, Dreams and reverie: images of otherworld mates among the Baule, West Africa, Washington, 1996.

8 Dreaming the Other World: figurative art of the Baule, Cðte d'Ivoire, brochure for an exhibition at the National Museum of African Art, Washington, 1993, p.1.