Outstanding Baule Comb – Mami Wata – Cote d’Ivoire

Bronze. The comb is cm. 23,3 high (9.17”); grams 598,4 (21.11 oz.). On the custom stand the piece is cm. 26,3 high (10.35″).

Mami Wata is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa, and in the African diaspora in the Americas. A prominent aspect of the Mami Wata deities is their connection to healing. If someone comes down with illness, Mami Wata often takes the blame. The illness is evidence that Mami Wata has taken an interest in the afflicted person and that only she can cure them. Similarly, several other ailments may be attributed to the water spirit. In Nigeria, for example, she takes the blame for everything from headaches to sterility.

Metal works like this Baule prestige comb is molded in bronze by ‘the lost wax method’. This kind of metal molding is made with a wax model and a mold made from a heat proof material, such as clay, in which the liquid metal is poured into through pipes and openings, and the wax is melted and drained away. The method is common on every continent exept Australia, and dates back to 3rd millenium BC and has sustained few changes since then.

The Baule are an Akan people and one of the largest groups in Côte d’Ivoire who historically migrated from Ghana.

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