Baule Iron Bell with Mallet

Two voices on one stand: a red-faced bell and its slender companion.

Baule carvers of the Ivory Coast, West Africa, made this iron bell with a wooden mallet in the 20th century. Bells of this kind are commonly associated with ritual and ceremonial use, where the sound calls attention as much as the carving does. Here the red-painted wooden figure, a bust with a high crowned coiffure, tops a flat paddle-shaped iron blade. A second slim standing figure with a similar red surface rises beside it, both set on a black metal base.

About sixteen inches tall. A matched pair that argues quietly on a shelf.