Dogon Standing Star Gazer Figure

Over five feet of metal, pointing at something you cannot see.

This standing star gazer figure comes from the Dogon peoples of Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is hand-forged copper and iron. Dogon smiths forged slender iron figures for family altars and shrines, where the raised arm is often read as a plea for rain or a link between earth and sky, though meanings remain debated. The body is barely a line: stick legs with sharp knees, a wire-thin torso, a small flat head, one arm thrust far out to the side and the other angled down. A flared bell of a base holds it upright. Sixty-four inches high.

Its balance is a matter of opinion. Its confidence is not.