Bobine de métier à tisser

Heddle Pulley, Attributed to the Circle of the Master of Buafle

Heddle pulleys of Guro sculptors are some of the most refined art objects from West Africa. Called kono locally they are traditionally used in looms to hold a bobbin over which the string is stretched, connecting the two heddles, which are moved by the weaver alternatively up or down by pressing them with the treadle. The bobbin rotates over a vertical iron pin fixed in the stirrup, which ends in the vertex in a neck, often decorated with a small head. This often beautifully fashioned and not essential fixture of a loom has no other function than to aesthetically please the weaver (who faces it constantly).

Guro weavers work in the village, usually under the shade of large trees. The bobbin holders of the Guro show a very large variety of shapes from triangular to horseshoe, from rounded contours to angular ones. The necks are rarely stiff cylinders but show the typical tattoo mark in the back (often a rather heavy bulging). The heads are carved three-dimensionally, giving emphasis to the profile (this is contrary to the Baule tradition where faces are flat, to be seen properly only from the front). These faces are most delicate with well curved jaw lines, long chins, lipless mouths and high, often nostril-less, noses, bulging foreheads and a zig-zag-shaped hairline defining the hairstyle with its many plaits, often held together over the part by a leather-band imitation with square koran-bags. Apart from these human heads, a large group of bobbin holders exists with animal heads, masks and even full-fledged figures.

It is most likely that these heddle pulleys were originally old peripheral Mande products, which were then adopted from the Guro by neighbouring workshops (Baule, Senufo, etc.). The Barbier-Mueller heddle is attributed to the circle of the master of Buafle (Central Guro aera). Nowhere in West Africa has there been such a variety of forms and delicacy of expression as that produced in these beautiful fixtures.