Figure of a "hermaphrodite" · Mali, Dogon · ID: 3046083
sold
EUR 8,000
Provenance
Pierre Langlois, Paris, France (end of the 1950s)Schelcher-Beyer, France
Alain de Monbrison, Paris, France
Zemanek-Münster, Würzburg, 24. November 2012, Lot 124
French Private Collection
Size
H: 64,5 cm
H: 25.4 inch
Description
wood, partly encrusted patina, rest., base
The encrusted patina, deriving from sacrificial offerings, may indicate that present figure is of the “vageu” type of figures, which was placed on family altars.
Sacrificial liquids were poured on the figural sculptures, including the blood of chickens, sheep, and goats, millet porridge, mixtures of various fruit and plant juices etc. These sacrificial materials are vehicles for “nyama”, the vital force that determines a persons mental and physical well-being.
Publications
AHDRC: 0145799