Seated female figure
Mali, Dogon, Area of Senou
Vendu
3 800 €
Provenance
Private Collection, FranceTaille
H: 43 cm
H: 16.9 inch
Description
wood, shiny brown patina, sacrificial traces, sitting on a small human figure, slender head, rep. (breakage right leg), dam., missing parts (arms, feet), fine cracks, slight traces of abrasion, wooden socle;
figures like the present belong to female societies and were used for the education of young girls. They were displayed on funerals and presumably on certain fertility and rain-making rituals as well. According to H. Leloup they were called “so-ma-so” (“listen to me”), a sentence effective for education and for prayers for fertility as well.