Zoomorphic Figure (Boli)

Mid-early 20th century

Bamana
Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

The name boli refers to a type of Bamana power object, such as the one shown here that resembles a bush cow or hippopotamus. Each example typically consists of a wooden core wrapped in layers of cotton cloth that are then covered with sacrificial materials including animal blood, plant extracts, and dirt. A boli is commissioned and cared for by a power association like Kono or Komo in order to harness spiritual energy for protective or therapeutic purposes.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Bamana
Title: Zoomorphic Figure (Boli)
Place: Mali (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1850–1925
Medium: Wood, cloth, mud, and sacrificial material
Dimensions: H.: 43.8 cm (17 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold X. Weinstein
Reference Number: 1961.1177

Allen Wardwell, “Six New Acquisitions: Sculpture of the Bambara,” The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, vol. 56, n. 1 (March 1962), pp. 2-5 (ill.).
Charles Long, Alpha, The Myths of Creation (New York: George Braziller, 1963), pl 3.
Allen Wardwell, Primitive Art in the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1965), pp. 5 (ill).
Art Institute of Chicago, 1996, Spiritual Expressions: Art for Private Contemplation and Public Ceremony, exh. brochure (ill.).
Kathleen Bickford and Cherise Smith, “Art of the Western Sudan,” The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 23, n. 2 (1997), pp. 115 (ill).
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 11, pp. 46-47 (ill.).
C. Granzotto et al. “Characterization of surface materials on African sculptures: new insights from a multi-analytical study including proteomics,” in Analyst, issue 10, 2021, 146, 3305-3316. [https://doi.org/10.1039/D1AN00228G]

Art Institute of Chicago, Spiritual Expressions: Art for Private Contemplation and Public Ceremony, Nov. 22, 1995–March 17, 1996, Gallery 142, no cat., brochure (ill.).

Harold and Mary X. Weinstein, Chicago, Ill., by 1961; given to the Art Institute, 1961.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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