Maternitè ·  Mali, Dogon · ID: 3037843

Description

wood, greyish brown patina, remains of sticky sacrificial patina in some places, seated, carrying a child on the back, fragmentary (the thighs only preserved in stumps), strongly signed by insect caused damage (arms), simplified stylized forms, slender and overlong, the breasts especially accentuated, head with crest and labret, facial features and ears kind of “abraded”, unusual: eyes with metal inlay (missing on the left), disc-shaped base, base;
the Dogon place wood figures depicting men and women on many different kinds of altars, most of which are dedicated to ancestors, either real or mythical. Images of women with children abound in Dogon art, not surprising for a society in which children are a woman’s dominant concern. In most cases female figures carry twins or even more children, which demonstrates the value the Dogon place on having many children.

Comparing literature

Ezra, Kate, Art of the Dogon, New York 1988, p. 44