Dogon WALU Granary DOOR Antique African Shutter Mali 35.75" Masked Dancer, NO Damage, EXQUISITE ! Start Price USD 995.00 Current Price USD 995.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, July 18, 2008 End Time Friday, July 25, 2008 Location Santa Fe, NM See more about 'Dogon WALU Granary DOOR Antique African Shutter Mali' Description   Dogon WALU Mask Granary DOOR ShutterAntique African Art - Tribal Sculpture - Mali     An Important Old Dogon Granary Door, Masked WALU DancersAntique African Art - Tribal Sculpture - Mali Collected from the: Dogon peoples of the Bandiagara Cliffs in Mali, West AfricaMaterial: Hardwood, iron staples, pigmentPeriod: Early to mid 20th centuryDimensions: 35.75" total height with pegs: door body is 32.5" height, 18.25" width, 3" depthWeight: 11.05 poundsCondition: Exceptional, NO damage or repair. From a private Houston collection, intact and structurally sound, exquisite signs of age, minor nicks and scuffs present significant patination, age cracks test stable, wear at pegs indicative of authentic tribal use. Two large iron 'staples' remain secure and anchored firmly in place. Make special note of the surface condition and gorgeous carvings, sublime detail suggestive of an important, highly valued piece ! Please click on the photos below to fully appreciate this important old door! Be sure to see the exquisite AFRICAN DOORS and LOCKS in our eBay store! Or explore our collection of WEST AFRICAN TRIBAL ART ! Click Images to Enlarge Information on Dogon Doors and Door LocksSmall wooden shutters are found on Dogon granaries – placed midway up the narrow, four-sided, puddle-mud structures with domed and thatch-covered roofs. Granaries outnumber almost all other types of buildings in Dogon villages, demonstrating the importance of preserving produced with the hard labor required in such a rocky landscape. Every family has several granaries, one for each of the wives and the rest for the head of the family. Personal valuables and family altars are often stored in the granaries as well. Shutters are also used on some binu sanctuaries, on the upper-story rooms of large houses, and on the houses inhabited by the Hogon. Granary doors and shutters usually possess locks as an integral part of their motif. Sculpted with a variety of forms - including ancestors, Nommo, lizards, female breasts, masks and horsemen – the ideography is clear up to a point if one is familiar with the Dogon myth of creation and similar to the ideography of the locks. The practical purpose of both granary doors and locks is protection of the family’s harvest, their most precious common possession. This physical protection is elaborated through magical protection symbolized in the sculptured forms. Granary, shrine and house doors were often fashioned out of two planks of wood of approximately equal size, a possible representation of the male/female energy in the Dogon universe. Overall there has been a gradual abandonment of sculpted doors and locks among the Dogon and an adoption of plain doors with modern padlocks. This is especially striking in Islamized areas. Sculpted doors were never as common as sculpted locks and are extremely rare in situ today. The decoration of a granary shutter expresses the owner’s relationship to the altar or binu of his people. The lock also bears a motif that identifies it specifically with the owner. Sculpted granary locks are still made today in many areas, but a striking deterioration in artistic quality is very evident. Dogon Walu MasksOver seventy anthropomorphic and zoomorphic mask types have been recorded among the Dogon. Made by member of the Awa society, they appear during dama memorials for the dead and the baga-bundo rites performed by small numbers of masqueraders before the burial of an important male elder. Antelope masks, among the most popular with the Dogon, are admired by the Dogon for their beauty and the strength of their performance. The rectangular box face is set with upright horns to indicate the mask represents the mythical antelope, known as Walu, who is said to have died of injuries sustained while protecting the sun for the God of creation. Dogon Tribal HistoryThe 300,000 Dogon inhabit approximately 700 villages in Mali, primarily along a 125 mile (200 kilometer) stretch of escarpment known as the Cliffs of Bandiagara. These sandstone cliffs run from southwest to northeast, roughly parallel to the Niger River, and attain heights up to 2000 feet 600 meters (2000 feet). Accounts of early Dogon history vary according to the specific Dogon clan and/or archaeological records consulted, with multiple versions of the Dogon origin myth as well as differing accounts of their migration from early ancestral homelands to the Bandiagara region. The people call themselves 'Dogon' or 'Dogom', but in the older literature they are most often called Habe, a Fulbe word meaning 'stranger' or 'pagan'. Certain theories suggest the tribe descended from an ancient Egyptian race that journeyed first to Libya, then on into regions of Guinea or Mauritania. Around 1490 AD, fleeing Mande invaders and/or drought, they migrated to eventually settle in the Bandiagara cliffs of central Mali. Legend has it that a snake led them to the cliffs at the southern end of the plateau, where they overwhelmed and usurped the local Tellem and Niongom populations. Carbon dating on remains excavated from the cliffs indicate the Toloy culture of the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC, and the Tellem culture of the 11th to 15th centuries AD inhabited the area long before the Dogon arrived. The influence of these earlier cultures continue to be noted in Dogon art to this day. Dogon livelihood is based on agriculture production concentrated in fields at the edge of the cliffs where water is scarce, but enough for occasional irrigation. Agricultural dependence has recently forced the Dogon to move away from their beloved cliffs onto the more fertile Bongo plains to maintain their agricultural production of millet, of vital importance to feeding the tribes. Onions, one of their only cash crops, are sold as far away as the Ivory Coast. Villagers are known to use bark ropes to scale the towering Bandiagara cliffs in search of pigeon guano and Tellem artifacts that are then sold to subsidize their meager existence. As the Dogon are both Muslims and Animists, their social and religious organizations are closely interlinked. Assimilation of the popular Muslim beliefs was initially somewhat limited by topographical isolation and tribal exclusivity. The four principle Dogon cults of the Awa, Lebe, Wagem, and Binu, significantly contribute to the richness and diversity of Dogon culture. For these various cults the hogon is both priest and political chief of the village. The tribe's self-defense comes primarily from their social solidarity which is based on a complex combination of philosophic and religious dogmas, with the fundamental law being the worship of ancestors. Ritual masks and corpses were enshrined in caves and used for ceremonial rituals. All Dogon villages have at least one togu na, a shelter where the men gather, and a Lebe shrine where the Hogon presides over their rituals. Recommended reading: Dogon Cliff Dwellers (Imperato), Art of the Dogon (Ezra), Dogon (Musse Dapper), and African Art of the Dogon (Laude). Cat. # fdrd2 ************************************************************************************ THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING SANTA FE AFRICAN ART !!!We strive to earn your ***** FIVE STAR ***** rating in all 4 categories! If you are not 5 star satisfied, please contact us immediately! Your Satisfaction is Unconditionally Guaranteed ! ************************************************************************************ Multiple purchases = SUBSTANTIAL savings on your shipping costs! Never a charge for handling! Important Note: UPS and USPS International request a daytime phone number for delivery, PLEASE be sure to include this information with your payment to ensure expedited service. Dimensional weight domestic rates include tracking or free Delivery Confirmation. USPS insurance is optional and highly recommended. 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