Mémoire d’Afrique — Ref. 192
Horseman statue — Dogon, Mali — African tribal art — Ref. 192
Unavailable
Description
This sculpture represents a horseman on his mount, a recurring theme in Dogon art, symbolising prestige, authority and the link between the world of the living and that of the ancestors. Among the Dogon, horsemen are often associated with chiefs or heroic figures from cosmogonic narratives.
It is carved from old wood, marked by a patina of use and traces of natural erosion. The horseman, wearing a conical helmet, adopts a rigid and stylised posture, characteristic of Dogon representations. The horse, the central element of the sculpture, is also treated in a stylised manner, with geometric motifs and an elongated appearance that accentuates the hieratic aspect of the piece.
Dogon horseman statues are generally used in a ritual context, placed in sanctuaries or displayed during funerary and initiatory ceremonies to honour ancestors or evoke the power of ruling lineages.
Technical details
- Availability
- Unavailable
- Type of piece
- Statue
- Category
- Statues
- Ethnic group
- Dogon
- Country
- Mali
- Materials
- wood
- Dimensions
- H 96 × W 19 × D 27 cm
- Weight
- 3,7 kg
- Estimated dating
- second half 20th c.
- Restoration / losses
- Arm locally repaired, erosion
- Laboratory test
- Not tested
- Reference
- 192