Dogon Bronze Standing Figure, Based

Stiff, upright, ornamented at every joint. Not a figure that fidgets.

Dogon artists of Mali cast this standing figure in bronze in the 20th century. Miniatures like it were kept on family and personal altars and as protective charms, a small but meaningful part of Dogon devotional life. Large disk-shaped ornaments sit at the shoulders and wrists. A crested coiffure tops an angular face with a hooked nose and an open round mouth. Zigzag and chevron bands decorate the torso, and a spiral marks the abdomen. A dark patina covers the surface.

Seven inches, on a square black mount. Formal, and unapologetically so.