Gope are found in many styles, usually oval shaped with ochre, white, and black pigments applied to the design. Some like this sculpture, are a combination of the classic gope form and the figurative bioma. In the 1930s, the Swiss ethnologist Paul Wirz photographed a variety of bioma and gope styles in clan shrines.

While the sex of spirits is not typically identifiable by the shape of the board, some, especially figurative gope and bioma, display phallic characteristics. The head of this board is shaped like a penis and the legs suggest the male genitalia.

Provenance:
Scott and Tanya Rodolitz, New York
John C. Elder
Collected by George Craig, prior to 1955

Exhibition History:
Measure of All Things: The Human Scale. Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, North Carolina, November 16, 2007 – April 6, 2008