Figure of hermaphrodite ·  Mali, Dogon · ID: 3041612

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.

Littérature comparée

Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk & Ineke Eisenburger (ed.), Forms of Wonderment, Vol. I, Berg en Dal 2002, p. 215

Publications

AHDRC: 0139713