Lobi Serpent Protector Pendant, Based

Two serpents twisted around each other on a rod, with heads bowed at the bottom.

This serpent protector pendant, mounted on a base is Lobi, from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and dates to the 19th century. It is bronze. Serpent imagery appears in many West African traditions, where snakes are variously linked with protection, water or ancestral power, depending on the people. Two snakes coil together in a tight spiral running the full height of the piece, each marked with fine incised scales. The heads rest low and face forward. A thin black rod holds it up on a small square base. It is 0.25 inches wide, 0.5 deep and 5.25 high.

Dark, glossy, and wound up in exactly the right way.