BAOULE (Ivory Coast). Wooden mouse box or mouse oracle, lid - Lot 43

BAOULE (Ivory Coast). Wooden mouse box or mouse oracle, lid decorated with a seated figure. H: 42 cm. These boxes are also known as "mouse oracles" among the Baule in north-central Côte d'Ivoire. This wooden or terracotta object was used for divination, and accompanied diviners on their travels. Technically, it's a pot whose interior is divided horizontally by a floor pierced by a hole. The diviner would place one or more fasting mice in the lower chamber, and during a consultation, he would arrange sticks, porcupine spines, tortoise shells and a little food in the upper part, in a carefully studied order. Once the pot was closed, the diviner would recite his incantations. The hungry mouse would immediately climb into the upper part to eat the food. He would involuntarily change the arrangement of the objects, which the diviner would then tear apart and interpret. The figure is sometimes seated, hands on knees, facing outwards, as if awaiting the result of the divination while guarding the receptacle and its contents like a sentinel. The seated position of various statuettes evokes the posture of dignitaries. The seated position of the figure in the mouse box could therefore be linked to the importance and power of its owner, who may also have been in the service of an influential ruler.