Prestige Stool: Figures

15th–19th century

Not on view

Elaborate ceremonial stools of this kind were owned by the hogon, the supreme religious and political leader in each Dogon community. The design and elaboration of such works draw inspiration from Dogon cosmology. It has been proposed that the very structure of the dual disks of the seat and base may echo the arrangement of heaven and earth. Some sources have identified the four figurative supports as protagonists from the Dogon account of Creation. According to this reading of the imagery, the following characters are visually evoked: a set of twins, direct descendants of Nommo, the first living being; a crocodile, Nommo’s saurian messenger; and two figures framed by two snakes that recall the origins of mortality.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

Title: Prestige Stool: Figures
Date: 15th–19th century
Geography: Mali
Culture: Dogon or Tellem peoples (?)
Medium: Wood, sacrificial patina
Dimensions: H. 15 3/16 × Diam. 14 in. (38.6 × 35.6 cm)
Classification: Wood-Furniture
Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
Object Number: 1979.206.110
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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Kneeling female figure with three children, Tellem or Dogon blacksmith, Wood, applied organic materials, Dogon or Tellem peoples (?) — Kneeling female figure with three children
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Folding stool, Oak decorated with marquetry including walnut, bog oak, maple, green-stained poplar, and other woods, Northern German or Polish — Folding stool
Northern German or Polish
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Staff with seated male leader, Dogon or Bozo blacksmith, Copper alloy, iron, Dogon or Bozo — Staff with seated male leader
Dogon or Bozo blacksmith
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