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Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)
Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)
Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_threequarter1_bw.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_threequarter1_bw.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_front_bw.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_front_bw.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_profile_PS1.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_profile_PS1.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_threequarter2_bw.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_threequarter2_bw.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_side_bw.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1989.51.45_print_side_bw.jpg)

Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_threequarter_PS1.jpg)

Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_threequarter_PS1.jpg)

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Female Figure

Arts of Africa

Figures like this one were placed on ancestral altars as links to a deceased person’s soul. It is likely that this figure represents a Nommo, one of the first created beings, who, according to Dogon mythology, had a combination of male and female traits.
CULTURE Dogon
MEDIUM Diospyros wood, organic material
  • Place Made: Central southern Bandiagara escarpment, Mopti Region, Mali
    • DATES early 17th century (probably)
    DIMENSIONS 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Arts of Africa
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1989.51.45
    CREDIT LINE The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Male figure. Head with pronounced sagittal crest, four incised hair locks, either side of ears, extending to shoulders. Facial features slightly defined; round eyes, arrow shaped nose, pointed chin or beard. Bulbous, pointed breasts, possibly exaggerated shoulders. Arms extend straight down from shoulders, hands placed at each side of men's genitals; pointed prtruding navel. Rounded protruding buttocks with thick cylindrical legs ending in blocky feet. CONDITION: Crack on right side of head, left wrist, buttocks.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Dogon. Female Figure, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2007
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    Dogon. <em>Female Figure</em>, early 17th century (probably). Diospyros wood, organic material, 15 3/4 x 2 7/8 x 3 in. (40.0 x 7.3 x 7.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, The Adolph and Esther D. Gottlieb Collection, 1989.51.45. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.51.45_PS1.jpg)

    TAGS

    sculpture
    dogon
    female figure
    female
    figure
    Bombu-toro
    wood
    organic sacrificial materials
    organic
    sacrificial
    sacrifice
    ritual
    statue
    figurative
    figurine
    17th century
    Bombo-Toro
    Mali
    Bandiagara region
    carved
    Nommo
    Ancestors
    stone
    devout

    TAGS

    sculpture
    dogon
    female figure
    female
    figure
    Bombu-toro
    wood
    organic sacrificial materials
    organic
    sacrificial
    sacrifice
    ritual
    statue
    figurative
    figurine
    17th century
    Bombo-Toro
    Mali
    Bandiagara region
    carved
    Nommo
    Ancestors
    stone
    devout

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