A Baule gong mallet of a trance priest with anthropomorphic head; occipital the fabric-wrapped impact area, elongated face with high forehead, thoughtful expression, the eyebrows connected and merging into the long, flat nose, small, slightly opened mouth, the hair piled up to a horn-like curved tip. The shaft decorated with diagonal and horizontal carvings, an eyelet at the base; fabric remnants at the impact area, with clear traces of ritual use, shiny dark-brown patina.

The trance priests of the Baule people, use such mallets to hit small, bell-shaped gongs of iron during their dances in the ritual of the ‘Do'cult, to fall into a deep trance due to the rhythmic sounds of the gong. The latter are believed to keep all evil spirits away from the ceremony. These gong mallets are also called ‘Laoure’ or ‘Lowre’.

Literature: Susan M. Vogel, Baule. New Haven, Yale University Press.Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, The Tribal Arts of Africa.

200 - 300,- Euro 

Height: 28 cm
Weight: 90 g