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Lawle (Gong Beater)

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Bookmark: http://triarte.brynmawr.edu/objects-1/info/146056



unknown Baulé
Baulé Primary



Lawle (Gong Beater)

19th century - 20th century
Carved and incised wood with string and textile

10 1/2 in. x 3 1/4 in. (26.67 cm x 8.26 cm)

Bryn Mawr College
Accession Number: 99.6.20
Other Number(s): P37 (Plass Number)
Acquisition Date: 1990
Geography: Africa, Côte d'Ivoire
Classification: Tools and Equipment; Musical Instruments & Sound-making Implements
Culture/Nationality: BauleBaulé, Ivorian, West African, African
Collection: Plass Collection
Description: From the Cote d'Ivoire, this Baule Gong Beater, also known as a Lawle, is a sacred object used in divination ceremonies. People who serve as spiritual mediums, or Komien, use the Lawle on gongs in order to initiate communication with the spiritual realm. Lawle tend to be more ornate than other gong strikers, named Kokowa, which are used for utilitarian purposes.

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword
This object has the following keywords:
  • African - Refers to the cultures of the continent of Africa, which is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Baule - The style and culture of the Akan-speaking peoples traditionally living in the savanna region between the Bandama and N’zi rivers in central Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Since 1940, there has been significant migration of the Baule to the southern, forested part of the country in search of land more productive for coffee and cocoa planting. Baule art is considered a separate and distinct style, although specific categories of Baule art are historically and stylistically close to the art forms of their neighbors. The style and culture of the Akan-speaking peoples traditionally living in the savanna region between the Bandama and N’zi rivers in central Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. Since 1940, there has been significant migration of the Baule to the southern, forested part of the country in search of land more productive for coffee and cocoa planting. Baule art is considered a separate and distinct style, although specific categories of Baule art are historically and stylistically close to the art forms of their neighbors.
  • carvings - Refers to works executed by cutting a figure or design out of a solid material such as stone or wood. It typically refers to works that are relatively small in size, are part of a larger work, or are not considered art. For large and medium-sized three-dimensional works of art, use the broader term "sculpture" or another appropriate term.
  • Ivorian - Style and culture of the Ivory Coast.
  • percussion beaters - Hammers or sticks, plain or with heads, used to sound struck instruments such as drums, dulcimers, and percussion idiophones.
  • West African - Styles and cultures from the region comprising the westernmost area of the African continent, defined by the United Nations as including the modern nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
  • wood - The principal tissue of trees and other plants that provides both strength and a means of conducting nutrients. Wood is one of the most versatile materials known.

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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Bibliography List
The following Bibliography exist for this object:
  • Frisk & Borodin Appraisers, Inventory and Appraisement Belonging to the Estate of Margaret Barton Plass, Deceased. 7 March 1990 Bryn Mawr College Special Collections. Bryn Mawr, PA, 1990
    Page Number: 2, Figure Number: 37

Comparanda List
The following Comparanda exist for this object:
  • "African Heritage Document and Research Center." (Accessed June 11, 2020): AHDRC.eu. Record No.: 0177633.
  • "African Heritage Document and Research Center." (Accessed June 11, 2020): AHDRC.eu. Record No.: 0062099.

Related Bibliography List
The following Related Bibliography exist for this object:
  • Maria Kecskesi, Kunst aus dem alten Afrika: Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde München (Innsbruck, Austria and Frankfurt, Germany: Pinguin-Verlag and Umschau-Verlag, 1982), 86-88.
  • "The Met Online Collections Database." The Met Collection. (Accessed April 9, 2020): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/. Accession No.: 1977.335.
  • Susan Mullin Vogel, African Aesthetics: The Carlo Monzino Collection (New York, New York: The Center for Africa Art, 1986), 53.
  • Susan Mullin Vogel, Baule: African Art Western Eyes (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1997), 29, 124, 229.

Portfolio List Click a portfolio name to view all the objects in that portfolio
This object is a member of the following portfolios:

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=BMC>cite web |url=http://triarte.brynmawr.edu/objects-1/info/146056 |title=Lawle (Gong Beater) |author=Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections |accessdate=3/28/2024 |publisher=Bryn Mawr College</ref>

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