Figure of hermaphrodite · Mali, Dogon · ID: 3041612
Edith Hafter, Solothurn, Switzerland
Description
wood, greyish brown patina, with chin plug, resp. beard, strongly encrusted sacrificial patina in some places (various liquids were used for sacrifices, including the blood of chickens, sheep, and goats, millet porridge, mixtures of various fruit and plant juices etc.), slightly dam., minor missing parts, cracks, traces of weathering, base;
hermaphroditic figures and twins are a key motif in Dogon sculpture. They express the belief that every person has a male and a female soul, and also refer to the complementarity of the sexes and the creation myth in which only hermaphroditic twins were created. These figures were probably placed on a family altar to encourage fertility.
The object Figure of hermaphrodite with the object ID 3041612 was part of the auction 85th Tribal Art Auction on March 4, 2017. The object with the lot number 133 achieved a sales price of EUR 8,000 with an asking price of EUR 5,000.
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Comparing literature
Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk & Ineke Eisenburger (ed.), Forms of Wonderment, Vol. I, Berg en Dal 2002, p. 215
Publications
AHDRC: 0139713