Dogon Seated Female Figure

Seated, upright, hands cupped beneath her breasts. A pose the Dogon know well.

She is bronze, cast in Mali in the 20th century by the lost-wax process. Dogon figures of this kind were kept in shrines and households, and seated women are a familiar subject. Four and a half inches tall. Legs set apart, breasts full and ribbed. A crested coiffure rises above a long face with a prominent nose, and banded ornaments circle her upper arms and ankles. The patina is dark and even, with earthy deposits in the recesses.

She does not fidget. Few people can say as much.