Made for a large altar honoring ancestors, this figure’s crusty surface resulted from repeated ritual applications of sacrificial materials including animal blood, millet porridge, plant juice, and oil, infusing it with a vital energy. Its braided hairstyle, thin beard, amulet-pendant, and ritual staff (on his left shoulder) suggest that this figure portrays a high-ranking man. The extremely dry environment of the cave where it was stored helped to preserve it.

Male Figure
wood, pigment, sacrificial material
Possibly 18th century
Dogon
Bandiagara region, Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

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