Dogon Ancestral Couple on Horseback

Two riders, one horse, and neither of them inclined to look at you.

This ancestral couple on horseback is Dogon, from the Bandiagara Cliffs of Mali in West Africa, early 20th century, carved in wood. Dogon carvers are generally thought to have made mounted figures for shrines and family altars, honoring ancestors and signaling status, though scholars differ on the meaning. Both riders sit upright on one small horse, legs hanging in long straight lines, the rear figure reaching forward to the one ahead. The horse's neck rises high and narrow like a third torso, all on an oval base. The dark surface looks worn in patches. Twenty-eight inches high.

They have been going the same way for a long time.