Dogon Wood Ladder, Mali, Based

Short and sturdy, and plainly in no hurry to be anywhere.

This ladder was made by Dogon carvers in Mali, West Africa, in wood in the early 20th century. The carved single-trunk ladder is a familiar Dogon object, commonly used to reach granaries and upper levels of a dwelling. This version has a graceful, nearly symmetrical Y at the top and a slightly crooked trunk. The wood is a smooth, medium brown, burnished by handling and age, with fine cracks and a small band of notching low on the trunk.

About 52 inches tall. The tidy one of the family.