This fine early Pygmy tool with wonderful zoomorphic features would have been traditionally used to beat bark cloth. The hammer is bound at the top with twine, and consists of a wooden handle - split at one end - with a wedged-in hippopotamus tooth 'head'.
Adorning the back of the head of the hammer, used for indenting and flattening the bark cloth, are a series of criss-cross markings.
Estimated Period: Late 19th / Early 20th Century
Ex Private Collection, Belgium
(Click on images to enlarge)
