Cleveland Museum of Art

Pendant

Date

1900s

Medium

Gold

Culture

Africa, West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, probably Baule-style goldsmith

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Gold objects, always cast using the lost-wax method, are the only Baule art forms associated with ancestor spirits. Usually hidden in pots or suitcases, gold adornments are displayed on important occasions such as funerals. They are laid out around the corpse before burial. A widow will wear them on a chain around her neck or attached to her hair at the ceremony signaling the end of mourning. The crescent-shaped scarification on the forehead of this piece is called ngwa , or “moon.”

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