The old Guro wooden spoons from Côte d’Ivoire with carved handles are rarely kitchen utensils. A the tip of the handle, the horns of the buffalo (Syncerus caffer) stand out, an animal very widespread in this region and considered as the protective ancestor of many families, who have the right neither to kill nor to consume its flesh. These spoons belong to the elder of the lineage (closest to the ancestors), who uses them in sacrifices for the benefit of his family and wears them on his chest, hanging from a cord.

This object was published in Arts of Africa and Oceania.