Garamut drum ornament

This ancient drumhead depicts an ancestral character with a smiling face and a headdress topped by a possum. Oversized hands rest on hips. The back supports the start of a handle.
On the north coast and in the Sepik delta region, it’s not uncommon to see men carrying a tame young possum on their heads. There are many myths about this animal, which was once associated with “headhunting”.
Garamut , these large slit drums, were carved from tree trunks, often of imposing dimensions. They were hollowed out with an adze from a long median slit along their entire length.
The side walls were adorned with sculpted reliefs, and on either side were symbolic figurations of totemic figures. These drums were used in ceremonies, their music accompanying the dances. They also served as a means of long-distance communication between different communities and with the spirit world.

Pierre Langlois (1927-2015)
Initially a spirits representative, Pierre Langlois was one of the first merchants to pick up pieces directly from the field. He made his first trip to Africa in the early 1950s, from where he brought back numerous objects to France, leading to the first monographic exhibition devoted to Dogon art, at the Palais des Beaux-arts in Brussels and then at the Musée des Beaux-arts in Lille in 1954. Following the unexpected success of the exhibition, Pierre Langlois decided to devote his life to non-European art. He opened a gallery in Paris in the 1960s and traveled extensively in Africa, Oceania and South America, where he acquired hitherto little-known objects from hard-to-reach places.

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