Ashanti Figure Playing Balafon

Cross-legged figure sits on a wire bed that looks too busy to rest.

This bronze figure playing a balafon from the Ashanti is Ashanti, from Ghana, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. The balafon is a wooden xylophone with resonators, played across West Africa, and it is often associated with the music of professional musicians. Thin seated man with a bearded, rounded face and folded legs perches on a lattice platform of crossed bars. Layers of flat, strap-like pieces pile around him. All of it rests on a rectangular frame, dark brown. It is 3.25 inches wide, 2.5 deep and 2.63 high.

Relaxed posture, complicated furniture, and a calm gaze.