Dogon Hair Pin Depicting Female Figure, Based

Even a hairpin, in Dogon hands, gets a figure on top.

Dogon smiths made personal ornaments in iron, hair pins among them, and often combined everyday use with figurative forms. This one, made in Mali in the 20th century, carries a slender woman at the top of a long shaft. Her arms form open loops that join at the hips, and her legs bend outward in a diamond shape above a small ring. The narrow head has a pointed crest and simple features. Small breasts project from the chest.

The dark iron shows spots of pale encrustation and touches of rust. Six inches tall on a slim black stand. Useful, and she knows it.