Figure of a Kneeling Woman

Unknown

ca. 1500 · Wood · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Both Dogon oral traditions and archaeological evidence attest to the settlement of Mali's elevated Bandiagara Escarpment by Dogon migrants during the early sixteenth century. This unusual work may date to that period given that the arid climatic conditions were conducive to preservation of wood sculpture. Stylistically, its oblong face, protruding eyes and mouth, straight nose and raised cicatrices at the temples, relate this sculpture to a group of works identified by specialists as "Soninke" or "Djennenke." These terms describe works produced by a network of related cultures that developed in the Inland Niger Delta region between the 12th and 17th century.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1500

Medium

Wood

Culture

Dogon (Soninke) peoples

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

Anonymous Gift, 2015