Dogon Figure of an Animal, Mali

Seven and a half inches of Dogon metalwork, and not an inch of it wasted.

Cast metal, Mali, 20th century. The Dogon made miniatures in metal for personal and ritual use, and animals turn up often. This one is long and low, resembling a chameleon, with four short legs and a ridged edge along the back. The tail coils into a round disc. A small head, ears, a tubular snout, a ring at the neck.

The patina runs gray-black, spotted with rusty brown. Barely an inch high. It would hold its own on a desk, near a window, or anywhere a lizard might plausibly sun itself.