Figural fragment · Mali, Dogon · ID: 3041141
Description
wood, blackish brown sacrificial patina, strong encrusted in some areas, overlong slender trunk, both arms missing, just the hands preserved which are both held in a protective way in front of the stomach, smooth facial features “overmodelled” with mass, base;
present figure most likely belonged to a female society and was used for the education of young girls. Such figures were displayed on funerals and presumably on certain fertility and rain-making rituals as well. They were called “so-ma-so” (“listen to me”), a sentence effective for education and for prayers for fertility as well.
The object Figural fragment with the object ID 3041141 was last part of the auction 84th Tribal Art Auction at November 5, 2016 on Zemanek-Münster Auction house and had the lot number 146.
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Comparing literature
Schmidt, Johann-Karl (Hg.), Dogon, Stuttgart 1998, p. 107