Flywhisk (handle and whisk)

Artist Baule Peoples

Place of OriginIvory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)

Daten.d.

DimensionsH (handle): 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); L: 4 3/16 in. (10.7 cm)

MediumHandle: wood with gold foil. Whisk: natural fibers and horse hair.

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of the Popplestone Family

Object number

2006.76

Not on View

Label TextThe most distinctive Baule symbols of rank are gold-covered flywhisks. Important chiefs may own many whisks, displayed on ceremonial occasions and at funerals. According to some accounts, the whisks are used to drive away not flies, but evil spirits. The chief is protected from witchcraft through gentle stroking with the horsetail flywhisks by his official whisk-bearers. Around the base are three low-relief human faces. Facing inward around the top are four birds, which may symbolize the proverb “Birds of the same species roost in the same tree,” meaning that the people and the royal family should act together.Published ReferencesCf. Susan Mullin Vogel, Baule: African Art Western Eyes, Exhibition Catalogue, Yale University Press, 1997, pp. 195-199.