Gong Striker
Baulé
Description
This elongated figure of a man wearing a loin cloth was used to strike a small bronze gong. The flattened arch projecting from the back of the head and neck, seen as an extension of the coiffure, was designed to administer the blows of percussion. Its simplified form demonstrates the basic conventions of Baule figural style: arms with long-fingered hands are carved in relief on the body, and bulbous legs are balanced by the curving back of the slender torso.
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