Dogon Iron Equestrian Figure

Tall, birdlike rider with a curved neck sits on a drooping mount.

This iron equestrian figure is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Iron is a strong metal that takes a dark, matte surface, and small figures made of it often keep a rough, hand-worked outline. Cast group of a rider with an elongated neck and a rounded head, sitting astride a four-legged animal whose head hangs low. Rust-orange and brown color spreads over the thin limbs and body. It is 2.5 inches wide, 1 deep and 3.5 high.

Elongated, oddly graceful and a bit rusty.