Information
Ritual figure.
Hardwood covered with a mixture of sacrificial substances which give the sculpture its black colour.The rudimentary face enables you to see eyes, a mouth and a thick beard. It seems to be a vague image of a deceased member of the group, after the shroud that enveloped them from time immemorial was opened.The sculpture represents the ancestral figure of a human body in a standing position. The arms raised high recall the gesture of a Nommo, a frequently used image in Dogon statue work because it depicts one of the primal beings of their complex mythology. They are people that French anthropologist Marcel Griaule, on his missions to French Sudan between 1928 and 1956, made known to the rest of the world.
Provenance
Galleria Maria Wyss, Basle (*);
Collection of Walter Schwab, Bern (Inv. WS 24);
Literature
FISCHER EBERHARD & HOMBERGER LORENZ "Die Kunst der Guro" Rietberg Museum Zurich 1985;