Baule Leather Fly Whisk

A small golden animal stands guard on the end of a horse's tail.

This fly whisk is Baule, from Morofe in the Akwe region of Ivory Coast, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is gold foil over wood, with horse tail and leather. Among the Baule and their Akan neighbors, gold-covered regalia has long signaled rank and standing. The flared gold handle rises to a four-legged animal with its head turned back. Below it, dark leather and a wrapped binding give way to a loose black switch. Thirty-six inches high.

Flies were presumably the least of its concerns.