Torso of a female figure ·  Mali, Dogon, Nduleri style · ID: 3035559

Description

wood, dark brown, partly spotty and oily patina, elaborate coiffure consisting of multiple rows of plaites, carved with a necklace, strong signs of usage, dam., missing parts (legs, left arm, right lower arm, breast, coiffure), socle;
probably this figure belongs to female societies and was used for the education of young girls. It was displayed on funerals and presumably on certain fertility and rain-making rituals as well. According to H. Leloup it was called “so-ma-so” (“listen to me”), a sentence effective for education and for prayers for fertility as well.

Littérature comparée

Leloup, Hélène, Dogon, Paris 2011, p. 352, ill.12