Mossi Wood Slingshot, Burkina Faso, Based

The tool of a young herder. A carver turned it into a woman.

Across the region, slingshots served young herders and hunters for driving off birds and taking small game, and carvers often turned the humble tool into a small sculpture. This Mossi example from Burkina Faso, made in the 20th century, makes the handle a slender female figure. Her head is crested and wedge-shaped, the face pointed and marked by a single incised line. Small breasts sit above a lightly incised torso, and her body divides into the two arms of the fork.

The dark wood has a soft handled sheen, paler at the high points. Nine inches, mounted on a black stand. Best aimed at nothing.