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Dogon Equestrian Figure Bowl Hogon's Cup of Office Antique African Art Ritual Container Mali Traditional Tribal Sculpture
An Early Dogon Hogon's Equestrian Figure Cup w/ Extensive Use Antique African Art - Tribal Sculpture Ritual Container - Mali
Collected from the: Dogon peoples of the Bandiagara Cliffs in Mali, West Africa Material: Hardwood, pigment, oil, skin oil Period: Early 20th century, conservatively Dimensions: 24.5" height, 7" outermost diameter; weight is 5.15 pounds Condition: Excellent - From a private Parisian collection, this container remains unchanged from the time of it's original acquisition. Exquisite signs of age, wear and extensive tribal use, exposed wood displays significant patination, age cracks and indigenous repairs at left forearm and rein all test stable, lids fit well on this freestanding sculpture. Make special note of the burnished skin oil patina along high points and both cup rims, along with the interior residue and stains of extensive use suggesting that a cup of this superior quality would have been passed down through generations of Hogons - a truly spectacular, museum quality specimen !
Please click on the photos below to fully appreciate this important old piece!
Dogon Hogon Equestrian Horse Rider Containers This sculpture is a type of bowl used by the Hogons. According to Dogon tradition, cups of this type were often sculpted for a Hogon at the time of his installation as a chief, priest or leader of a village or section of a village. Sometimes the cup or bowl used by his predecessor was transferred to him ceremonially at this time. From a functional point of view, these cups often serve as storage places for a variety of things including (shea) butter and tobacco. They often depict the Hogon seated on top of either a horse or a donkey though the animal depicted is often difficult to discern stylistically. At a different level of interpretation the seated figure represents not merely a Hogon, but rather the first Hogon, i.e. Lebe, the first man who died and who, by doing so, introduced death to mankind. The iconographic representation of the horse testifies to the significance of the horse being the first being to exit from the ark in the Dogon creation myth.
The Dogon possess a variety of wooden cups, the best known of which are very large ones superimposed on the figure of a horse or donkey and surmounted with a lid or superimposed lids which ultimately culminate in a sculpted figure. The figure is often that of a Hogon seated on a horse or donkey. The identity of the animal is still undecided as it has been called a horse by Griaule, but a donkey by other scholars. These cups were the property of Hogons and were usually sculpted and presented to a Hogon at the time of his installation in office. Some were handed down from one Hogon to the next and were only used when a successor took office. Still other cups were used annually at harvest time to hold mutton and donkey meat which was eaten from the cup by the Hogon and the elders. Laude (1973) points out the relationship of the surface designs on these cups to the primal field in the creation myth and the close association between the Hogon and agriculture. The Hogons guard the purity of the earth, a purity which was first achieved when Amma sacrificed a Nommo and dispersed his parts across the earth. Some cups in western collections depict women grinding millet on their lids, constituting iconographic evidence supporting the information obtained through ethnographic field studies. The association of these cups with Hogons, agriculture and agricultural rituals is an intimate one." See Imperato's Dogon Cliff Dwellers for further details on this fascinating culture.
Dogon Tribal History The 300,000 Dogon inhabit approximately 700 villages in Mali, primarily along a 125 mile (200 kilometer) stretch of escarpment known as the Cliffs of Bandiagara. These sandstone cliffs run from southwest to northeast, roughly parallel to the Niger River, and attain heights up to 2000 feet 600 meters (2000 feet). Accounts of early Dogon history vary according to the specific Dogon clan and/or archaeological records consulted, with multiple versions of the Dogon origin myth as well as differing accounts of their migration from early ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara region. The people call themselves 'Dogon' or 'Dogom', but in the older literature they are most often called Habe, a Fulbe word meaning 'stranger' or 'pagan'. Certain theories suggest the tribe descended from an ancient Egyptian race that journeyed first to Libya, then on into regions of Guinea or Mauritania. Around 1490 AD, fleeing Mande invaders and/or drought, they migrated to eventually settle in the Bandiagara cliffs of central Mali. Legend has it that a snake led them to the cliffs at the southern end of the plateau, where they overwhelmed and usurped the local Tellem and Niongom populations. Carbon dating on remains excavated from the cliffs indicate the Toloy culture of the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, and the Tellem culture of the 11th to 15th centuries AD inhabited the area long before the Dogon arrived. The influence of these earlier cultures continue to be noted in Dogon art to this day.
Dogon livelihood is based on agriculture production concentrated in fields at the edge of the cliffs where water is scarce, but enough for occasional irrigation. Agricultural dependence has recently forced the Dogon to move away from their beloved cliffs onto the more fertile Bongo plains to maintain their agricultural production of millet, of vital importance to feeding the tribes. Onions, one of their only cash crops, are sold as far away as Cote d'Ivoire. Villagers are known to use bark ropes to scale the towering Bandiagara cliffs in search of pigeon guano and Tellem artifacts that are then sold to subsidize their meager existence. As the Dogon are both Muslims and Animists, their social and religious organizations are closely interlinked. Assimilation of the popular Muslim beliefs was initially somewhat limited by topographical isolation and tribal exclusivity. The four principle Dogon cults of the Awa, Lebe, Wagem, and Binu, significantly contribute to the richness and diversity of Dogon culture. For these various cults the hogon is both priest and political chief of the village. The tribe's self-defense comes primarily from their social solidarity which is based on a complex combination of philosophic and religious dogmas, with the fundamental law being the worship of ancestors. Ritual masks and corpses were enshrined in caves and used for ceremonial rituals. All Dogon villages have at least one togu na, a shelter where the men gather, and a Lebe shrine where the Hogon presides over their rituals.
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We're delighted to combine shipments and reduce your costs, simply email your Zip/Postal Code PRIOR to making payment. All major credit cards and PayPal are gladly accepted. Payment is expected within 7 days of your purchase. In consideration of discounts given, we respectfully request immediate payment on all Best Offers unless arrangements are made prior to acceptance. Please contact us directly if other payment arrangements are necessary - we're always happy to help!
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