Ring

Akan group, Ghana, African

  • Titles Ring (Descriptive)
  • Medium metal
  • Dimensions 5/8 x 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (1.6 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Drs. Noble and Jean Endicott, 1991.1135.7
  • Work Type ring
  • Classification Jewelry

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Heddle pulley with hornbill head.
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.
Mask, Lega people, Democratic Republic of the Congo, African, wood, vegetable fiber, pigment
Pear-shaped, dark-brown vessel covered with raised points; lid also covered with points, has handle formed with two cylindrical loops, one atop the other, forming a cross. Thick patination found between points.