Baule Medicine Pot

Salihu Ibrahim of Ghana presents this intriguing hand-carved wood medicine pot, styled after the vessels used by the Baule tribespeople to store important objects. The lidded pot features faces carved on the sides as well as two seated figures back-to-back on the lid. The spirit world figures into almost every aspect of life for the Baule, and they believed that the spirits would keep the contents of such a box safe from thieves.