Dogon Lock, First Half Of The 20th Century

Geometric lock Dogon Mali. Old work circa 1920-50. Shocks - wear, patina of use, oxidized wood. The locks are called "konbarabara" (door protrusion). Often made of Ficus wood. They can be offered to women by their husbands, for the birth of the first boy. The installation of the lock then corresponds to the accession for the wife to the social status of "adult woman" that is to say mother of a male child. Another practice consists of giving the young girl a door with its lock, at the moment she leaves her parents' house. The key would symbolize the understanding of the two sexes. A round head without ears refers to the god Faro, the master of water, who brings harmony to the world and to the lives of men. These locks were part of the woman's personal property and were transmissible to heirs of the same sex (daughters and daughters-in-law). Provenance: Collection of an author of a work on pulleys and locks (the name will be given to the buyer).