Dogon Niongom Figure
The Niongom people occupying the south of the cliffs of the Bandiagara plateau were among the oldest pre-Dogon populations in the region.
Tribe: Dogon
Origin: Bandiagara Cliff, Mali
Approx Age: Mid 20th Century
Materials: Wood
Dimensions cm: 36 Tall
Ref. Number: KNPC LV
£1900.00
Description:
A Dogon Niongom figure with a really nice stance, encrusted patina from libations of mixed millet and chicken blood. This female figure has a large lip plug, banded coiffure, incised markings around the base of the rear of the head and depicts she is wearing a loincloth, looking at the nature of the carving it depicts that this lady was elderly and was most likely an ancestor figure.
Provenance: Ex-Lampvelden collection, Netherlands. This was collected in situ from the village of Tebelet, located along the Bandiagara Cliff by the previous owner in 1970.
History
The Dogon place wood figures depicting men and women on many different kinds of altars, most of which are dedicated to ancestors, either
real or mythical. Although figurative sculptures, called ‘Dege’, are perhaps the most interesting types of Dogon art, varied in form and rich in
imagery, they are also among the least well documented. Few altars have been described in detail or illustrated; those that have been
described do not suggest any consistent pattern linking a particular style of figure or a specific posture or gesture with any one kind of altar.
There is also little information with which to identify the persons represented by the figures.
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