Dogon Wood Door Lock

An open window at the top, and crosshatching dense enough to be fabric.

This door lock is Dogon, from Mali or Burkina Faso, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is carved wood. The Dogon sliding lock, mounted on granary and house doors, is a familiar form whose vertical case is often treated as a field for carving. This one is dark and heavy, its upper end hollowed into a squared frame. Fine crosshatching covers the lower half of the case, and a small rectangular opening sits at the bottom. The long bolt is plain and squared, with a hooked notch at one end. It is 15 inches wide and 16.5 high.

Plain where it can be, patterned where it counts.