Fon Wood Medicine Pounder, Based

It looks like a bowling pin raised by patient people.

Fon artisans of Benin, West Africa, carved this medicine pounder in wood in the 20th century. Tall pestles such as this are commonly associated with pounding herbs and roots for medicine. A narrow neck with a rounded finial opens into a long, gently widening body with a few faint ridges near its center. The wood is a deep chocolate brown, glossy in places and scuffed in others, with a reddish tone at the top. A black block stand keeps it upright.

About 36 inches tall. Handsome in a hallway, quietly unexplained.