Très belle statue d'autel , Dogon, Mali

Ancienne collection Morris Pinto
Sotheby's, Londres, 9 mai 1977, "The Pinto Collection", n° 119

Very good condition overall. Wear consistent with age and use within the culture. Superficial erosion to the right leg and along the base (as visible in the catalogue illustration). Small and old loss to the end of the left knee, as visible in the catalogue illustration.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

C'est dans le style identifié par Hélène Leloup comme "Bombou-Toro" que l'on trouve - comme ici - certaines des conceptions les plus saisissantes de l'art ancien des Dogon. 

Dans cette région centre de la falaise sud de Bandiagara naîtra au XVII^e siècle, à partir d'influences Tellem et Djennenké, un style d'une individualité remarquable : "presque schématiques, [les statues] paraissent refléter la vision quotidienne des à-pics de la falaise, le côté abrupt de l'environnement qui transmet au sculpteur ses caractéristiques rigoureuses" (Hélène Leloup, 1994 : 165-166).

Les volumes stricts s'articulent selon une puissante dynamique accentuant les points de rupture, tandis que les plans inclinés font glisser le regard très en profondeur.

A la modernité de la sculpture s'ajoute le caractère surréaliste de la tête, évoquant le concept Dogon du personnage à multiples têtes. Selon Hélène Leloup, les statues de ce type - guinin - sont sculptées sur la demande d'une grande famille "chaque tête regardant un coin de l'horizon. [Elles représentent] un homme de la famille chargé de la défendre" (idem : n° 86).
cf. Leloup (1994 : n° 88), pour une statue conservée au New Orleans Museum of Art, datée XVII^e - XVIII^e siècles, où le motif abstrait de la tête (en forme de tabouret) est interprété comme "un personnage à multiple têtes".

Au sommet, le plateau-autel servait à recevoir les libations. Son identification en tant que statue d'autel est attestée par l'épaisse patine croûteuse, sombre.

A very fine Dogon altar figure, Mali

Some of the most striking of old Dogon sculptures are to be found, like the offered lot, in the style which Hélène Leloup has identified as 'Bombou-Toro'.

In this region at the centre of the southern Bandiagara cliff a style of remarkable individuality emerged at the beginning of the 17th century, under the influence of the Tellem and Djennenke styles. 'Almost schematic, [the figures] appear to reflect the daily sight of the sheer cliffs, the abrupt slope of the surroundings, which provide the 'rigorous' characteristics used by the sculptor (Hélène Leloup, 1994: 165-166).

The strict volumes are structured according to a rigorous design which accentuates points of rupture, whilst the tilted planes draw the gaze inwards.

The modernity of the sculpture is complimented by the surrealistic character of the head, which evokes the Dogon idea of the multi-headed person. According to Hélène Leloup, these guinin figures were carved at the request of a large family 'each head looking to a different part of the horizon. [They represent] a man from the family, responsible for its defence' (ibid. no. 86).

cf. Leloup (1994: no. 88), for a figure in the New Orleans Museum of Art, dated to the 17th – 18th centuries, with an abstract motif in the form of a drum upon its head, which has been interpreted as 'a person with multiple heads'.

At the top of the figure, the flat, altar like top was used to receive libations. Its usage as an altar figure is attested to by the thick, dark, encrusted patina.