Baga Anthropomorphic Grinding Vessel

Grinding is not glamorous work. The Baga of coastal Guinea made it worth looking at.

Baga carvers often brought figurative elements into practical objects. This carved wood grinding vessel takes a human form, the figure supporting the bowl with a carved, rounded body. It is about thirteen inches long and twenty across.

Use has left the surface of the bowl smooth and worn. That is the part that tells you it was used. Set it on a low table where it can be seen from above. The figure, after all, is doing the lifting.