Dogon Standing Female Star Gazer Figure

Six and a half feet tall, and thin as a broom handle.

This standing female star gazer figure comes from the Dogon peoples of Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Hand-forged copper and iron are all it needs. Spare, elongated metal figures like this are associated with Dogon shrines, where they are thought to have stood as intermediaries between people and the forces of the sky, and scholars differ on the details. Two long arms hang straight from a knob of a head. The legs are little more than twin wires, meeting a small bell-shaped base. Green and rust colors mingle along the twisted metal. Seventy-eight inches high.

Ceilings should be checked in advance.