Dan Wood Heddle Pulley

Patiently, a tall, narrow face with scarified cheeks, a cat-ear crest and a small drum below.

This carved wooden heddle pulley is Dan, from Liberia, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved wood. A heddle pulley hangs above a loom and carries the cords that raise and lower the heddles, and in West Africa it is often carved with a small figure or face. Taken whole, a carved dark brown head with slit eyes, a long nose and fine incised lines on the face. A ridged crest rises above like two ears. Below, a lattice-patterned arch holds a barrel-shaped roller on a thin axle. It is 2.75 inches wide, 2 deep and 6.75 high.

One serious face and a little barrel for good measure.