Dogon Seated Male Figure on Stool

Narrow figure seated on a stool, one hand held up to its face.

This seated male figure on a stool is Dogon, from Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is iron. Among the Dogon, stools and seats are generally linked with rank and the dignity of elders, so a figure seated on one often suggests authority. Slim figure with a long, tapering head sits upright on a small block seat, with one arm bent upward toward the face. The legs are simple and straight. The surface is dull grey-green and brown, rough throughout. It is 1.5 inches wide, 1 deep and 4 high.

Lost in thought, and not about to say where.