Lobi Snake Currency

Collection of five Lobi iron snakes, used in trading. 

Many of the Burkina Faso tribes have historically seen snakes as sacred, killing or eating them was forbidden while the shedding of their skin was a symbol of rebirth. The animals were more than a symbol, to some they were mediators between this world and the next. In particular, the Lobi and Gan people of West Africa incorporated the snake motif into much of their metal artworks, which served as decoration, protective amulets, shrine ornaments and metal currencies.

Longest: 36 cm length, shortest 20 cm.