Lobi Brass Hairpin with Bush Cow Finial

A brass hairpin whose finial takes the form of a bush cow head. The animal has dramatic curved horns, a projecting snout with modelled nostrils, a slightly open mouth and spiralling eyes, set above a vertically incised collar. The bush cow, also known as the forest buffalo, appears widely in Lobi masks as the supernatural spirit of the animal and is associated with healing, agricultural fertility and rites of passage; a pin of this kind was understood to give spiritual protection to its wearer.