Dogon Seated Figure, Mali, Based

Tall, narrow, and a little rough around the edges. The Dogon like their metal figures columnar.

Smiths in Mali made small figures like this one for personal and protective use. He sits three inches tall, in the 20th-century manner, with a long narrow torso, small breasts and faint incised lines across the chest. Round ears, a long nose, knees projecting forward at the base. The metal is mottled, gray-green and rust, thick with encrustation.

He rests on a black base. Quiet company for a desk.