NIK 0602-51 – SOLD

Granary Doors of the Dogon, Mali

H: 165 cm (65″) W: 70 cm (27,6″), D: 13 cm (5,1″)

Wood, shows traces of the weather

This is a fine ancient Dogon door with extremely simple almost abstract sculptured decorations. The Dogon in Mali live along the Bandiagara escarpment a range of cliffs approximately 120 miles long and in places up to one thousand feet high. Living in small villages on the plain at the foot of the escarpment the Dogon farm in an environment that is marginal and demanding.

The visitor who journeys to the Dogon country is struck by the considerable number of granaries. They form one of the characteristic features of Dogon villages. Each family owns many granaries, in which the precious annual harvest of millet, wheat, beans, onions, peanuts and sorghum are stored. Personal goods and cult objects are also stored there. Granary doors are sometimes richly decorated with human figures, animals and carved geometric designs that originate in the iconography of Dogon myths.

This door is composed of two panels of wood that were joined together by native made staples. Part of the decoration uses female breast, that symbolize love, health and nutrition.

Provenance: Brussels gallery ex Belgian collection.

Age: Est. mid 20th Century.

Literature: “Art of the Dogon” – highlight of the Metropolitan Museum’s permanent collection of pieces of Dogon art collected by Lester Wunderman

Click here for more information about the Dogon people

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