Browse Items (12 total)

This fly whisk has a rounded circular handle with an elephant standing on top of it. The handle is carved wood with a brown patina, covered with 24K red gold leaf. The shaft of the handle has ancestral faces. The horse tail attachment for shooing…

This monkey figure is referred to as a gbekre, a brother of the buffalo spirit known as Guli. It is carved out of natural unstained wood. This figure fulfils a deity role by receiving offerings in agricultural rituals and protects the living. A…

A hand-wrought iron gong stands next to a carved wood tappa featuring a Goli Society Bo-Amun mask. There are holes in the base for attaching fabric. The gong has an encrusted brown patina and the tappa has a rich red brown patina.

Diviners (highly respected fortune tellers) use a mouse and a divination pot called a "gbekre" to predict future events.

One-of-a-kind bronze royal bracelet with two rounded hinge halves. An elephant stands in the center with lions on either side.

Fly whisk features two elephants with their trunks entwined around a tree. The center shaft is missing the blue indigenous fabric for shooing away flies. It is made of carved wood with brown patina and 24K red gold leaf.

This divination pot features ancestral faces, a man holding diviner sticks, a rooster, a large mouse, a puzzled monkey, elephants, a frog, a crocodile, and a royal dancer. It is one of a kind, lost wax cast bronze with varied bronze green patina.…

This crocodile-shaped game board has recessed cups in its back for game use and holding the playing pieces. This mathematical game is played with cowrie shells or pebbles, and is similar to chess. The game board is carved out of wood with and dark…

Goli masquerades are rich with social commentary pertaining to knowledge, gender, aesthetics, and the hierarchies surrounding village life. Communication comes forth through the medium of entertainment with elaborate costuming. Performance takes…

Baule people are prolific carvers. A statue is usually on a base with legs bent slightly, and hands at rest on the abdomen to communicate a feeling of peacefulness. The coiffure is generally detailed. The statue represents the spirit of the bush and…