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Dogon Kneeling Male Figure OLD African Sculpture Mali
An Early Dogon Tintam Style Kneeling Male Figure w/ Loincloth Funerary Statue Antique African Art - Tribal Sculpture - Mali
Collected from the: Dogon peoples of Mali, West Africa Material: Carved wood, pigment, skin oil Period: Early 20th century Dimensions: 20" height, 5.5" width, 6.25" depth; weight is 6.15 pounds Condition: Exceptional. From a private Parisian collection, superb signs of age and wear from authentic tribal use, minute age cracks test stable, uppermost ears were nicked through time or use judging from surface condition of area, wear-exposed wood displays significant patination, recesses exhibit anticipated accumulated debris of daily life, burnished ever-so-slightly oily surface condition at nose, ears, outer arms and thighs suggestive of frequent indigenous handling. Clearly a favored early Tintam figure, make special note of the sublimely meticulous detailing on both front and back of the loincloth and the Islamic necklace - absolutely gorgeous !
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Dogon Figure Statues Sculpture Carving Traditions Dogon figures were predominantly associated with the ancestor cult. Carved for either personal or family use or, if they commemorated the foundation of a community, they were worshipped by the village. The Dogon subsequently settled in the same territory as the earlier Niongom and Tellem peoples whose artistic influence and carving traditions are readily apparent in Dogon sculpture. Several regional styles of Dogon figures emerged as identified in detail by Helene Leloup (1994). Often carved from what tribal members termed "iron wood", the sculptures were carved while the wood was green, immediately after the tree was felled, during the only time the wood was considered workable, and then dried to an impressive hardness and weight. The wood's density and final hardness allowed for the intricacy of detail. The kneeling posture assumed by this figure is a common theme in Dogon art, especially in sculptures of women who assume this kneeling pose at funerals as a sign of grief and of gratitude to the deceased for a productive life. Given that many Dogon figures are placed on ancestral altars dedicated to deceased family members, it is possible that the kneeling figures are intended to this gesture with the sentiment it embodies. Women with health problems seek the assistance of the ancestors to whom these altars are dedicated. Not merely ornamental, Dogon altar fetishes can be viewed as a means of collecting and transmitting spiritual forces and of signifying the owner's ongoing relationship with the source of that power.
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.
Recommended Reading: Dogon Cliff Dwellers (Imperato), African Art of the Dogon (Laude), Art of the Dogon (Ezra), Dogon (Musee Dapper), Masques Dogon (Griaule), Les Dogon du Mali (Beaudoin) and Statuaire Dogon (Leloup).
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