Grand Peigne Baoulé, Ivory Coast

Large comb with seven teeth. The upper part is decorated with geometric patterns with a woman's face in the center on one side and a man's face on the other. The whole thing is topped with a representation of a leopard carrying a stool on its back. We can still see traces of pigments and paint on the object. The representation of the couple as well as the symbolism of this panther carrying the ancestral stool allows us to deduce that this object belonged to a lady of great lineage. The size, rather large for a comb, corroborates this hypothesis.
Baoulé people, Ivory Coast
Blackened wood with a beautiful patina of use
Dimension: 29.4 x 10.6 cm
Circa 1940/1950
Former French private collection