Gong "mokenge" · Gabon, Tsogho · ID: 3036000
not available anymore
Provenance
Yann Ferrandin, Paris, FranceSize
H: 42,5 cm
H: 16.7 inch
Description
metal, wood, round handle, carved with an anthropomorphic head with tribe-typical facial features, pierced ears, dam., cracks at the back, traces of corrosion;
this type of gong was used in a Tsogho men’s initiation association called “evovi” (“judges”). The carved head is thought to represent “kombe”, the sun and supreme judge.
Comparing literature
Brincard, Marie-Therese, Sounding forms, Washington D.C. 1989, p. 141, ill. 90 Cogdell, Jacqueline, Turn up the Volume! University of California 1999, p. 282, ill. 52