Dogon or Tellem-Komakan Figure, Mali

Mamadou Guindo, Bandiagara, Mali

Private French Collection, acquired from the above in 1967

By Ulysse Gaunet

A major piece of Komakan art

« All the elements are rendered forcefully: the facial features, the ball shaped eyes, the beard, the breasts, the belly, each of them projects forward… » [1]

The Komakan style comprises a small corpus of highly distinctive sculptures, all of which are thought to have been created in and around the village of Komakan, located in the southern part of the Cliff of Bandiagara in Mali. Though it is recognized by experts of the region as one of the major Cliff styles [2], it stands out for the great rarity of its sculptures.

The dating of Dogon Country objects since the 1980s has helped fine-tune the study of sculpture styles in this region and highlighted the great antiquity of Komakan art. In fact, the most remarkable pieces have all been dated between the 13^th and 16^th centuries. A recent Carbon-14 study of the one at hand revealed that it was made between the 14^th and 15^th centuries, once again confirming the timeline for the full flourishing of this art form.

The sculpture displays all the attributes required to be included in the very restricted corpus of major Komakan sculptures: an ogival head, protruding eyes framing a pronounced nasal bridge, and a body sculpted in high relief with raised arms meeting at their extremities.

The back of the body rests on a typical conical base. As for the scarification marks, they add to the unique character of this figure: while the chevron-shaped ones at the base are more common, the asymmetry of the uppermost ones creates an interesting sense of momentum, emphasizing the significance of the raised arms, which are associated with rain rituals, as in neighbouring Tellem sculptures from the same period.

Its remarkable state of preservation, combined with a deep patina indicative of frequent use, lends it a close resemblance to the statue presented by Hélène Leloup in Statuaire Dogon in 1994, about which the author also pointed out the distinctive nature of its slightly oozing patina. Its aesthetic qualities make it one of the most remarkable exemplars of Komakan art, and it provides an invaluable contribution to comparative studies in this region.

[1] Leloup, H., Statuaire Dogon, 1994, fig. 65

[2] Leloup, H., Statuaire Dogon, 1994, p. 116 - 117 and De Grunne, B., « Vers une définition du style soninké » in Arts et Cultures, 2001, p. 85