H x W X D: 73.5 x 13 x 16.3 cm (28 15/16 x 5 1/8 x 6 7/16 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Ogol village, Mali
Date:
Late 19th-early 20th century
Label Text:
One of a distinctive stylistic group of about a dozen sculptures, this figure gives an impression of size and presence. The pose, with arms separated from her sides and hands in front of pelvis, is a symbol of pregnancy, as is the hairstyle. The long lip plug would have been a millet stalk.
Although there is no collection data for this carving, a nearly identical figure has been identified as a display piece brought out for a man's funeral. Another was associated with a shrine to women who died in childbirth and was thought to help restore fertility to supplicants. The frequent cleaning and oiling from these uses give these figures a very different surface from those Dogon objects that receive sacrificial libations.
Description:
Wood standing female figure on a square base with arms seperated from sides and hands in front of the pelvis. The figure has a long lip labret and multiple piercings in the ears.
Provenance:
Paul and Ruth Tishman, New York, before 1966 to 1983
Exhibition History:
Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa's Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 4, 2017-ongoing
African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2007-March 31, 2009
For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981
Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 16, 1968-January 5, 1969; The High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, August 31-November 1, 1970; University of Texas College of Fine Arts, Austin; City Art Museum, St. Louis, August 20-October 17, 1971; Des Moines Art Center; Huntington Galleries, Huntington, WV
Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1967
Arts connus et arts méconnus de l'Afrique noire, Collection Paul Tishman, Musee de l'Homme, Paris, 1966
Published References:
Arts connus et arts méconnus de l'Afrique noire, Collection Paul Tishman. 1966. Paris: Musee de l'Homme, no. 14 (not illustrated).
Fagg, William B. 1967. The Art of Western Africa. New York: New American Library, no. 10.
Grunne, Bernard de. “A great Dogon artist: the master of Ogol = Un grand artiste Dogon: le maître d’Ogol,” Tribal art: special issue = Tribal art: hors-série (San Francisco) no. 2, 2011, pp 16-35.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Bryna Freyer and Andrea Nicolls. 2007. African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 59, 82-83, fig. 18, no. 22.
Muze'on Yisra'el. 1967. Masterpieces of African Art: Tishman Collection. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, no. 62.
Sieber, Roy and Arnold Rubin. 1968. Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, no. 2.
Turner, Jane (ed). 1996. "Africa." The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 1. New York: Grove, p. 2362 no. 31.
Vogel, Susan (ed). 1981. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 16-17, no. 1.
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