– 133 –
Standing female figure
wood, heavily encrusted patina, base
Dogon figurative sculpture was
created for shrines. The figures were
placed on personal altars, ancestral
altars, in „binu“ sanctuaries, on altars
dedicated to „Nommo“ and on „yaupi-
lu“ shrines, which are dedicated to the
souls of women who died in pregancy
or childbirth.
The figures serve as intermediari-
es between people and a variety of
spirit beings, deities and ancestors
(„vageu“). They are the locus of prayer
and are coated and doused with sacri-
ficial materials. These are vehicles for
„nyama“, the vital force that determi-
nes a person‘s mental and physical
well-being.
€ 2.500 - 5.000
MALI, DOGON
237 Figur eines „Hermaphroditen“
Holz, Sockel
Figure of a „hermaphrodite”
wood, base
H: 36 cm
Provenance
Emil Storrer, Zurich, Switzerland
€ 1.500 - 3.000