Dogon Standing Maternity Figure with Knife Blade Currency

She holds a pair of metal rings out from her sides as if weighing them.

Dogon casters of Mali, West Africa, made this standing maternity figure with knife blade currency in bronze in the 19th or 20th century. Knife blade currency was a form of exchange in parts of West Africa, and mothers and children are commonly used as figures of continuity. Here the woman stands with a rounded head and a bulging navel, and holds two curved objects at her sides. Her legs are banded with textured lines and she stands on flat feet. The dark bronze has a weathered, mottled surface.

About 4 and a half inches tall. A little banker, a little protector.