Zemanek-Münster

Dog sculpture "tou wala ganamba" with magic metal object ·  Mali, Dogon · ID: 3047368

sold EUR 3,000
Provenance
collected in situ (1960)
French Industrial Collection
Pierre Dartevelle, Brussels, Belgium
Zemanek-Münster, 11 November 2017, Lot 201
German Private Collection
Size
H: 32,5 cm
L: 57,5 cm
H: 12.8 inch
L: 22.6 inch

Description

wood, metal (corroded), the sculpture is covered by a thick encrusted sacrificial patina, base

The iconography of the dog is linked with the historic Dogon migration.

Jean Laude (1973, ill. 54) reports about a legend, according to which the wet paws of a dog led the Dogon to vital water points at the Bandiagara cliff. Only then was it possible for them to survive in the inhospitable area, to drive away the Tellem that lived there and to take possession of the area for themselves.

Depictions of dogs commemorate this important event in Dogon history.


The object Dog sculpture “tou wala ganamba” with magic metal object with the object ID 3047368 was last part of the auction 96th Auction at April 24, 2021 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house. The object with the lot number 160 achieved a sales price of EUR 3,000.

Here you will find more objects and interesting facts about African art.


Comparing literature

Laude, Jean, African Art of the Dogon, New York 1973


Publications

AHDRC: 0147847


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