Sculptures attributed to a workshop identified with the village of Tintam are defined by powerful, rounded contours and a vivid red hue associated with ritual transformation. We can only speculate about the concerns underlying certain recurring Dogon representations. Several freestanding figures produced by the Tintam atelier feature a raised-arm gesture in which one hand clenches in a fist with thumb raised and the opposite hand opens flat. Each figure wears a labret, or lip ornament, tabbed necklace, and a panel of fabric that extends between the legs. The gender of the two figures with raised arms is ambiguous, given the emphasis on a beard and triangular pendant breasts.
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The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.
