Civil War and Later Musket and Pistol Ball Collection

With tapering flat-section handle, used as a device for warding off harmful magic; identified by Marie-Louise Kerr, curator of the West Berkshire Museum. 96 grams, 44.5 cm



Found wrapped in cloth along with fur, bones, and feathers, in the eves of a thatched cottage in Berkshire, UK, in 1978. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Iron flat-section shaft with three tiered cross-bars, the two lowest each with five iron lamp-bowls to the forward face; above, a U-shaped bar with a lamp bowl at each upper end; top of the shaft developing to an anthropomorphic torso with ellipsoid head and two narrow arms raised vertically; chain around the neck with hand-forged extinguishing spoon; mounted on a square base; Dogon, Mali, workmanship. 6.25 kg total, 132 cm including stand



From the private collection of Dr Hans-Joachim Koloss, Berlin, Germany, 1975-2002. Gorny & Mosch, Munich, Germany, auction 279, no.410. Accompanied by a copy of the Gorny & Mosch invoice and illustrated catalogue listing. Accompanied by a copy of the German cultural export licence. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

The figure is probably a Nommo a primordial ancestral spirit in Dogon cosmogony. A Nommo is usually considered to be amphibious, hermaphroditic and fish-like depicted in Dogon art with a humanoid upper torso, and a fish-like lower torso and tail.

Including a crouching female with hands supporting her breasts, and other types. 177 grams total, 10-12.7 cm



Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.