This unusual sculpture appears more like a modern work of art than a piece of African ethnography. Two large, rusted metal conical “legs” are joined to the wooden handle that has been decorated with a double-faced head covered in metal plaques, a characteristic feature of the neighboring Kota tribe. The forms of the face, including the bulging eyes, curved jaw, and T-shaped brow and nose recall the sculpture of the neighboring Fang and Kota tribes who frequently employed such faces on their reliquary guardians. This fact may imply that this figure is a guardian of the bells, and therefore that this musical instrument may have played an intricate role in a sacred ceremony. The elongated neck also serves as a handle. We can picture a Songo tribesman holding this work and banging on the bells, in rhythm to drums and dancers. The overall shape of this work recalls both slingshots and heddle pulleys, albeit on a much larger scales. This work, while quite unique, is nonetheless tied into formal and stylistic conventions of the art of Gabon and Western Africa as a whole.