Gurunsi Ankle Bracelet Brass Currency Nigeria

Overall Condition: Good. Most of our pieces have spent decades on at least two continents, and have been treasured by several owners.   Small splits, scrapes and cracks are a normal part of their patina attesting to their age and extensive use.  We examine each piece carefully when we receive it and report any damage we find in our listings.  Please look carefully at the pictures which may also reveal condition and damage.

Damage/Repair: Oxidation

In the southwest region of Burkina Faso, numerous smaller groups of farming peoples have often been identified collectively as the Gurunsi. Included in this style region are the Nuna, Nunuma and Lela among others sharing certain common elements of culture and language. This makes definitive classification of their masks a bit difficult. The Nunuma are primarily farmers with an uncomplicated social structure, which in the past has relied upon male elders to exercise social control. Their religion relies upon magical objects and figures that are kept in village and family shrines.

See Christopher Roy, 1987, ART OF THE UPPER VOLTA RIVERS, P. 218.

For similar piece see in the same book figs. 188

AG1222