Photographs © Matt Mrachek
DOGON, Iron Lamp 12, 32" h, $300, Mali
These functional iron lamps, with bowls to burn oil, and 2 staffs, express status, prestige and power. They would bring honor to the ancestors, the current leadership and the owner of the sculpture. They usually depicted a former leader, seated, standing or on horseback. Although rare, horsemen as icon have existed for 1000 years in Mali. Some would depict a hogon, the supreme officeholder, a semi-divine leader of great wisdom, or even a mythological emissary from a distant land.
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