A Dogon Bowlkeeper

A Dogon Bowlkeeper, based on a rectangular rounded base, an animal supporting a covered bowl with a horseman on top.

Kate Ezra (Art of the Dogon: New York, 1988, p. 40), writes of a similar equestrian figure: "Dogon figures depicting horses and riders reflect the prestige and power surrounding an animal that has been associated with royalty since horses were introduced to West Africa more than a thousand years ago...Dogon equestrian figures are most often identified as images of hogon, since in Dogon society horses are a luxury generally reserved for rich and powerfull people. Because horses occur in Dogon beliefs about the creation of the world, the hogon as rider is seen as a symbol of mythical personage. Thus, the equestrian hogon has been interpreted both as blacksmith, a mythical character who himself stands for Nommo, a being that represents order in the universe, and as Lebe, a primordial ancestor, whose cult, over which the hogon presides, is concerned with fertility and regeneration of the earth.

Height: 62 cm
Weight: 2,8 kg