Hermaphrodite Statuette, Dogon Tintam People, Mali

Statuette presenting a character in a seated position. The torso is very long and very thin and responds to the long, slender arms. The hands come to rest delicately on the knees. A pair of breasts completes the torso. The shoulders and buttocks-legs respond to each other thanks to their circular shapes. A neck forming a ball makes the junction between the shoulders and the head from where a plateau beard comes to mark the masculine character of the statue. The face, all in roundness, brings us back to the style of the Dogon Tintam. Note a certain originality in the treatment of the legs, arms and breasts. Indeed, these parts are chiseled and give an appearance close to snake scales. The attributes both feminine and masculine, bring us back to the progenitors of humanity, to the ancestral founders, spirits both male and female.
This very balanced statuette is a great success in terms of its construction. Straight lines alternate with curves and solids play with voids.
Dogon people Tintam, Mali
Wood with patina of use.
Height: 19.5 cm
First half of the 20th century.
Provenance: ex-private French collection.