Nigeria
Igbo

Bronze bell / lost wax casting
Late 19th – Early 20th century
Height:   14 inches
Idiophone-Struck Directly – Metal Bell

Bells used by the Yoruba peoples are connected to the Ogboni (Oshugbo/Osugbo) Society that honors community founders and smaller bells were worn as emblems of rank. Ogboni is a fraternal institution indigenous to the Yoruba language-speaking polities of southwestern Nigeria, Republic of Bénin and part of Togo, as well as among the Edo/Benin people groups. This larger anthropomorphic bell was possibly used in special Yoruba divination ceremonies dealing with fertility.