The Baule, who live in central Cote d’Ivoire, are one of the several Akan groups, which inhabit Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo. The best known of the Akan are the Asante, who created an empire, which had its capital in present-day Ghana. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Asante acquired great wealth from their trade in gold, cloth and slaves, and as they expanded their territory, they demanded tribute from the regions under their control. According to Baule traditions, their ancestors moved away from the Asante at the end of the 1700s and the Baule controlled most of Cote d’Ivoire until the end of the 19th century.

The Baule are known for the high artistic quality of their wood sculptures and today, finely-carved Baule figures are found in most African art collections in museums in Europe and the US. The Baule also made carved wooden doors, which appear in these collections. These doors follow a common pattern. The door has a wooden peg at the top and at the bottom and these pegs were fitted into the packed earth walls of a traditional house.  The door was opened and closed using a rope that passed through a small hole in the center of the door, which can be seen in this example. The doors were often used to separate rooms within a house and, therefore, they do not show signs of wear and tear.

The doors are decorated with incised designs; sometimes they are geometric or they may be animal motifs, such as, crocodiles, fish and snakes that are also frequently found on Akan objects. Some of these motifs are believed to refer to proverbs that reflect the society’s values, which focus especially on maintaining peace and cooperation in the family. The crocodile on this door has a small animal with a long tail in its mouth. A similar design of a crocodile with a fish in its mouth is said to refer to a saying that members of a family should not prey on their more vulnerable kin and should rather protect them. Another door has a similar design of a snake eating a crocodile. Given that these doors were used within a house, family members were continually reminded to be gentle with kin and value lineage unity.

The majority of Baule objects, today admired for their beauty and the high degree of skill with which they were made, were sacred objects used in rituals and were not in public view. As Vogel wrote, “Because sacred sculptures were rarely viewed by the public, Baule sculptors used utilitarian objects, such as doors, heddle pulleys for looms, and ointment jars rather than sacred sculptures, to advertise their abilities and attract commissions.”