Lobi Bell with Standing Female Handle, Based

A little figure in a ribbed bell skirt balances on a thin black stand.

This Lobi bronze bell with standing female handle, on a base is Lobi, from Burkina Faso, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Cast bronze is often made by the lost-wax method, in which a form modeled in wax is encased in clay, melted out and replaced with molten metal. A small cast figure with a rounded head and a tall crest, holding something at its chest. The body widens into a conical skirt of fine stacked rings, with a short dangling clapper below, mounted on a square base. It is 3 inches wide, 3 deep and 8 high.

Pocket-sized dignity, mounted with real ceremony.