This solid bronze crescent with seated female figure is most likely a diviner’s amulet. The Lobi and Gan are ethnic groups in Burkina Faso. Such works were forged with ornamental elements created using the lost-wax casting method, in which a clay mold was made around a modeled wax form. The mold was then heated and the wax poured out, after which molten brass or other metal was poured in and solidified in the form of the original wax model. This finely crafted amulet from the 19th or early 20th century is 4 inches long, 4-1/4 inches wide, and 2-1/4 inches deep.

Excellent patina, soil encrustations, erosion of sheet material forming crescent.