Altar with female figures
While the purpose for which this sculpture was created is not entirely clear, its richly textured surface suggests a devotional setting involving repeated applications of offerings and libations. Composed of a set of eight female figures arrayed around a central core and crowned by a top-like form, this work may have once adorned a shrine or altar created for communication with the ancestors of a Dogon lineage group or other divine powers.
Dogon sculpture emphasizes angularity and rectilinear form: the blacksmith who carved this altar has reduced his subject matter to a set of simple, geometrical elements. Arms and legs are attenuated columns broken by sharp angles at the elbows and knees, while pointed cones replace breasts and protruding stomachs. Wedge-like heads display stylized, angular features and thin, cylindrical ornaments that drop from the lower lip. Compositionally, the work displays a sophisticated interplay of heavy massing and delicate openwork. Conjoined heads and torsos radiate from the central core, forming solid bodies that appear to float above graceful passages of empty space delimited by the slender lines of the limbs and facial adornments.
Dogon sculpture emphasizes angularity and rectilinear form: the blacksmith who carved this altar has reduced his subject matter to a set of simple, geometrical elements. Arms and legs are attenuated columns broken by sharp angles at the elbows and knees, while pointed cones replace breasts and protruding stomachs. Wedge-like heads display stylized, angular features and thin, cylindrical ornaments that drop from the lower lip. Compositionally, the work displays a sophisticated interplay of heavy massing and delicate openwork. Conjoined heads and torsos radiate from the central core, forming solid bodies that appear to float above graceful passages of empty space delimited by the slender lines of the limbs and facial adornments.
Artwork Details
- Title: Altar with female figures
- Artist: Dogon blacksmith
- Date: 16th–mid-20th century
- Geography: Mali, Diop village (near Ibi)
- Culture: Dogon peoples
- Medium: Wood, clay, applied organic materials
- Dimensions: H. 17 1/8 × W. 7 1/2 × D. 7 1/2 in. (43.5 × 19.1 × 19.1 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1962
- Object Number: 1978.412.467
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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