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.
L’objet Figure of hermaphrodite avec l’ID d’objet 3041612 a fait partie de la vente aux enchères 85th Tribal Art Auction dans 4 mars 2017. L’objet portant le numéro de lot 133 a atteint un prix de vente de 8 000 € pour un prix d’adjudication de 5 000 €.
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Littérature comparée
Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk & Ineke Eisenburger (ed.), Forms of Wonderment, Vol. I, Berg en Dal 2002, p. 215
Publications
AHDRC: 0139713