Bamana doors are structurally complex objects, mostly composed of wood planks joined together with iron pins to create solid screens against outside elements and partitions within homes. Together with their plank doors, the wood locks epitomize the characteristic complexity of African art: in their formal simplicity, most are invested with symbolic messages. Their imagery, both abstract and representational, can be deeply personal, alluding to the social positions and concerns of their owners. Doors and locks have a spiritual function, and a lock can keep out evil. Locks generally share a basic structure, a vertical beam and a horizontal sliding one, the bolt. Everything has a symbolic meaning---the vertical piece is male, the horizontal one female. The locks are all made by the local blacksmiths, who besides being artisans, have magical powers that let them contact spirits. The vertical, male part of each lock is sculptured with a representation of some cosmic force, often crocodile jaws, which represent major sorcery-destroying figures. Although the vertical beams are usually male, several feature carvings of pregnant women, which represent fertility and procreation in general. This particular lock depicts Mouso Koroni Koundye, a divine woman in Bamanan mythology who is the source of all ideas which have been or will be given to man and represents energy, activity, and desire. But she is also the source of all malice, misunderstanding, treachery, deviancy, and sorcery. She is all extravagant being, unruly, uncontrolled, and excessive.