Dogon Statuette

Powerful Dogon statuette, with a compact volume and an astonishingly dense presence, carved from ancient wood deeply worked by time. The body, marked by a tense verticality, features arms pressed against the torso, a narrow chest, and massive legs, fully in keeping with the pure tradition of ancestral Dogon figures.

The thick, crusted, and stratified patina bears witness to a long ritual history: sacrificial deposits, accumulated dust, traces of unguents, and repeated handling. This mineral-like skin, almost fossilized, endows the work with a telluric intensity and a profoundly sacred character.

The face, reduced to its essentials, is defined by an abrupt geometry—a prominent chin and marked forehead—reinforcing the impression of a mediating figure oriented toward the invisible.

Despite its modest size, the statuette asserts a rare, almost magnetic presence, characteristic of ancient Dogon works, whose power derives as much from the carving itself as from the ritual accumulations that envelop it.

Date
19th century or earlier

Provenance
Olivier Castellano, Paris.
Srdjean Sremac, Amsterdam.
Jonas de Boek, Waterloo.
Vincenzo Casale, Brussels.

Dimensions
18 cm (7.1 in), including base.

Condition
Crusted patina; two incisions on the back.