Heddle Pulley
Guro, Ivory Coast
Early 20th Century
PROVENANCE: Norma Boggiano Collection, NY. Norma Boggiano was a longtime friend of famed collector Harold Rome. Acquired from Harold Rome, 1970. Harold Rome acquired the piece in 1961 from the Rasmussen Gallery in Paris, Rome inventory No: A26.

The Guro, prominent weavers, made indigo-and-white cotton textiles using a narrow-band loom. Wooden pulleys were used to hold a cord that moved the two heddles back and forth. These heddles pulleys were often embellished with figurative and cultural representations. This particular example exhibits two anthropomorphic figures, a Janus head. A fine example, the body of the pulley is left plain, while the heads are decorated with a geometric coiffure and slightly off-set asymmetrical facial features.
Height: 7 1/2 in.
IN 10-1-15 / Price on Request