African Combs and Witchcraft Pieces, CAR 1900's

The three (3) small hanging baskets came from the Central African Republic and supposedly had magical powers that pleased the God of the Wood. A witchdoctor would hold a basket from the top and tell villagers that he would speak to the God of the Wood, and if the bottom part didn’t fall to the ground, that would please the God - but if the bottom part fell to the ground, that would displease the God, and villagers would have to compensate the witchdoctor with chickens and goats or anything else that would make amends to the God - all to the benefit of the witchdoctor. The witchdoctor was basically tricking people with powers he didn’t have - he couldn’t suspend the bottom of the basket in the air because of gravity, but science was new to these people. The baskets are about 4 in. tall.

The pipe with the decorated bowl was also related to witchcraft and the God of the Wood. Villagers left the pipe for the God to smoke, and if he was pleased, that would lead to a successful hunt. It measures 8 1/4 in. long. The smaller pipe with a brass ring around the base was used to smoke marijuana and measures 6 3/4 in. long, with age wear.

The two (2) combs from the Central African Republic were hand-made by local villagers because they couldn’t go to the store and buy one. Stores were often far away, so villagers made their own combs from sticks woven together with plant fiber and decorated them with attractive geometric designs. The small comb measures 5 x 2 1/8 in. wide and the bigger comb measures 8 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. wide at the tips. From the Dale Baker collection.