Dogon Standing Female Star Gazer Figure

A spear, you might think, until you notice the small round head and the two small breasts.

This standing female star gazer figure is the work of the Dogon peoples of Mali, West Africa, in hand-forged copper and iron, and dates to the 20th century. Dogon farmers depended on scarce rain, and forged figures placed on altars are often read as standing requests to the sky on behalf of the family, though meanings vary and outside accounts disagree. The whole body is one long flattened shaft, swelling once at the hip and rising to a ball of a head. A small rectangular foot keeps it standing. Seventy-four inches high.

She has reduced the human form to its essentials, then kept going.