Baule
Côte d'Ivoire
Coastal West Africa
Diviner's Belt
INV-2073
Baule
Côte d'Ivoire
Coastal West AfricaEarly/mid–20th century
Diviner's Belt
Baule Côte d'Ivoire Coastal West Africa →bauleArts of Africaafrican ArtCoastal West Africaleathergourd
Date
Early/mid–20th century
Medium
Leather, fur, gourd, shell, and wood
Dimensions
24.2 × 90.2 × 12.7 cm (9 1/2 × 35 1/2 × 5 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of E. Carl Douglas and Family
This belt may have belonged to a diviner whose skills derived from a close relationship with a wilderness spirit. Special training allows diviners to work in concert with such spirits to reveal the sources of human illness and trouble. Wilderness spirits often ask the people they possess to have unique objects like this elaborate belt, or weapons [see 1999.380], made for them, to be displayed during a diviner’s public trance performances.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
