Well Used Architectonic Kulango Pulley

This piece was acquired by Thomas McNemar, who lived outside of Abidjan in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He toured the country collecting, among other things, hundreds of pulleys. Figurative pulleys were then fairly common among the Senufo, Baule, Guro and other ethnic communities where traditional weaving was still practiced. The devices are critical elements in a West African loom, sitting roughly at eye level with the weaver. McNemar’s collection was particularly and unusually rich in these architectonic Kulango pulleys with spires, loops, and T-bars. The finial motif on this example is reminiscent of Bedu masks. Mounted on a museum-quality base.

4.5″

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