Heddle Pulley in Form of Abstracted Horned Animal

Akan group or, Guro people, Côte d'Ivoire, African

early 20th century

  • Titles Heddle Pulley in Form of Abstracted Horned Animal (Descriptive)
  • Medium carved wood
  • Dimensions 7 1/4 x 3 x 2 in. (18.4 x 7.6 x 5.1 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Priscilla Weaver Brandt, 1993.73
  • Work Type heddle pulley
  • Classification Tools & Equipment

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Hide shield attached by leather strips to oval wooden frame; vertical wooden handle on back; patterns in blue, white, black, ochre, red pigments.
Vessel cover dedicated to the river god, Erinle. Such vessels were used to hold "moving water" from rivers or the sea, but not from wells, Every sixteen days the water is renewed together with two stones taken from a river as symbols of Erinle. The stones are also considered analogous to embryos in the womb. Surmounted by a male figure with his arms around a bowl on a potstand, a salamander or other river animal is behind him, and ritual implements surround him.