Dogon Bronze Standing Figure, Based

Four inches. That is all the room a Dogon metalworker needed.

Cast in bronze in Mali in the 20th century, this little man stands with a strap across his chest and a short club gripped at his side. The other arm is short, banded near the elbow. Round head, long nose, small mouth. His navel pushes out above a belted waist, and his feet are large and flat, planted. Green and golden-brown tones play across the surface.

Figures this size were worn, carried, or set on family shrines. He is small. He is armed. Nobody has argued.