Standing female figure · Mali, Dogon · ID: 3052625
Starting price
EUR 2,500
Estimated price
EUR 5,000
Provenance
Pierre Langlois (1927-2015), Lille, France (1950s)Olivier Castellano, Paris, France
Size
H: 29 cm
H: 11.4 inch
Description
wood, heavily encrusted patina, base
Dogon figurative sculpture was created for shrines. The figures were placed on personal altars, ancestral altars, in “binu” sanctuaries, on altars dedicated to “Nommo” and on “yaupilu” shrines, which are dedicated to the souls of women who died in pregancy or childbirth.
The figures serve as intermediaries between people and a variety of spirit beings, deities and ancestors (“vageu”). They are the locus of prayer and are coated and doused with sacrificial materials. These are vehicles for “nyama”, the vital force that determines a person’s mental and physical well-being.