SNK 1212-84

Baule Gong Hammer, Ivory Coast

Musical instrument

H: 28 cm (11″), W: 2 cm (0,8″), D: 6,5 cm (2,6″)

Lawle waka, the twisted and ridged handle holding a miniature of the buffalo mask, semicircular beater.
According to S. Vogel, the diviner-dancers (komyen) are conditioned to get into a trance state when they hear the steady beat of the gong.

Provenance: Private Danish collection. It was either acquired directly from Lau (Laurence) Sunde’s collection in Copenhagen, which dates back to the 1940s, or Lau (Laurence) Sunde was an adviser to the collector.
Sunde had a “Etnografica” boutique in 1948, that became recognized among collectors as the most specialized boutique of its kind at the time. Tribal and oriental artefacts were purchased from private collectors as well as at auctions in Paris, Amsterdam and London, among other places.

Full description of Lau (Laurence) Sunde will be forwarded by request.

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