Lobi Thungbubiel or Elephant Pendant

Protection, in Lobi country, often came on a cord and at a diviner’s direction.

Men and women wore small bronze ornaments for it. This 20th-century pendant from Burkina Faso is catalogued as a thungbubiel, or elephant pendant, and its form is strongly abstracted: a flat, elongated plaque rises to a narrow neck and a flared, trapezoidal crown.

A raised central rib carries a herringbone pattern between two grooves, and beaded borders run down both long edges. Two small holes are pierced near the base. About five inches long, golden, softly worn, darker toward the edges.

Little elephant, large intentions.