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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 8148349, member: 128351&quot;]Ancient, they say... Well, it&#039;s not so ancient, but it is African and historical - and, you know, in Africa, traditional craftsmanship looks very old after a few decades.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421220[/ATTACH]</p><p>It is a bronze bell from Chad, made with the lost wax technique. There is a clapper inside, the bell rings when you shake it. It&#039;s called a &quot;digol&quot;. There are inscriptions in relief : &quot;France libre&quot; (Free France) and &quot;18 Juin 1940 / 8 Mai 1945&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>It represents the General De Gaulle raising arms (he loved to do this). The dates are 18 June 1940, the day after Marshall Pétain surrendered to Germany, when De Gaulle aired a speech from London on the BBC calling French servicemen to join him and fight on. 8 May 1945 is the day when Germany surrendered. Chad, then a French colony, was the first territory to pledge allegiance to De Gaulle on 26 August 1940, and launched the first French counter-attack led by General Leclerc against Italy in Libya in January 1941. Most of Leclerc&#039;s modest column (a few hundred men) were Chadian soldiers.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421264[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This &quot;digol&quot; bell was probably made in the late 1940s (after 1945 of course) or in the 1950s. I have seen recent specimens, but more schematic and without inscriptions. I have been told (I don&#039;t know if it&#039;s true) that these bells are or were used in some animist ritual (Chadians are supposed to be Muslims or Christians but Animism is deeply rooted in both communities).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1421260[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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