Untitled

Untitled

Female figure

Though this female sculpture appears to be kneeling, comparisons to other Dogon figures show she is standing. In her elongated form, we see the Dogon’s alteration of the human body. It is common for artists to depict human figures with long arms and torso, and accented features such as this figure’s breasts. Her face has some decoration to it with a cylindrical lip ornament sitting under her lip and chin. A set of three bands sit around her skull, which is mostly shaven save for a strip of hair down the middle. The neat stack of horizontal bands that are made by her chin, lips, and nostrils, suggest that she is a part of a group of objects created by an artist known as the "Master of Ogol". The artist is named after the village where examples of his work were found in 1935. Based on objects like this female sculpture, she may be a "dege dal nda" or "sculpture of the terrace". She would have been stored in the house of a Hogon, spiritual leaders in the Dogon culture. She would only see light for the funerals of wealthy men and dressed for display.

The Dogon

Martha and Robert Fogelman

The Art Museum at the University of Memphis

15th/19th Century

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Wood, carving
24.750x6.000x5.000

2008.2.64