Diviners would place bracelets next to larger carved wooden figures as shrine offerings during consultations with the spirits. The standing couple on the bracelet aided the diviner to communicate with the spirit world to guide his clients.
Copper alloy and iron.
The circlets were placed on a diviner's shrine. Some of the bracelets were also worn by men and woman to provide protection of the spirits they embodied.
Provenance: Ex.Thomas G. B. Wheelock Collection, New York.
Height: 2" - the outer diameter is 3 5/8".
Height on its 2 1/2" square metal customized stand is 4 ¾".
Published in “Land of The Flying Masks : Art and Culture in Burkina Faso. The Thomas G.B. Wheelock Collection,” Christopher D. Roy & Thomas G.B. Wheelock, Prestel: Munich (2007).
