Zoomorphic finger ring from bronze with a braided look and a buffalo head. According to the inventory, it is an imitation.
Such zoomorphic rings are especially known from the Senufo people and come from the Ivory Coast or from Burkina Faso. They are i. a. linked to fortune telling and are in this context in the language of the Senufo named as "yawiige" ("something that follows you"). In Western Africa, the people go to see fortunetellers considering i. a. health or work-related problems. "Yawiige" can be e.g. bracelets, rings or anklets that shall mediate between the world of the humans and the spirit world. The trinkets should help to soothe the ghosts and thus solving the problems and conflicts that are revealed through the fortune telling. Moreover, they should serve as protection from mischief. The jewellery either gets bought by the advice seeking people at the suggestion of the fortunetellers or is worn by the fortunetellers themselves to maintain the relationship with the ghosts.
General Richard Erlenbusch (1863 - 1937) has given the object within a larger bundle to the Gewerbemuseum (Museum of Applied Arts) Ulm in 1920. The origin, as it could be an imitation, is not certain. Over a number of years, Erlenbusch committed different bundles as gifts or loans to the Gewerbemuseum. The bundles contained especially military items, which he obtained probably during his combat missions in the First World War i. a. in France and Italy. From where he obtained the non-European objects is not clear. However, these came into the museum's collection after Erlenbusch finished his military career (1920 and 1923).
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