Dogon Kneeling Female Figure with Single Neck Ring

Round-eyed and wide-shouldered, this one stares down the camera and wins.

This bronze kneeling female figure with single neck ring is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Small cast bronze figures in West Africa were generally made by the lost-wax method, in which a wax model is covered in clay and replaced with molten metal. Dark, heavy figure with a pointed head, a prominent brow and a rounded protruding mouth. Small knobs project from the shoulders and a swollen belly sits above short bent legs. The surface is deep brown with a dull, rubbed shine. It is 0.75 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 4 high.

Compact, solemn, and slightly stern about the whole business.