Hunter with Spear (detail)

Featured is a

miniature African bronze. It comes from the Dogon People in Mali, West Africa. The Dogon live along the Bandiagarra escarpment, a cliff which runs 150 kilometers through the heart of the country. They are known for their rich cultural heritage and artisanship. The entire length of the cliff is dotted with Dogon villages, each one supporting sculptors, weavers and blacksmiths.

African miniature bronze, Dogon People

Among these artisans, blacksmiths are considered magicians, perhaps because they can transmute materials from one state to another. It is the blacksmith who makes “magic” figures, casts protective amulets, and instills power and meaning into objects they are commissioned to create. While working, they go into a sort of spell and commiserate with their ancestors. In a sense, they summon their muse.

This particular bronze depicts a classic theme in Dogon art – the Hunter. Small statues like this are created for home altars, but why was this figure created? What is the significance of a hunter buckling under the weight of a wavy spear? Maybe it has nothing to do with hunting. Perhaps it was this blacksmith’s way of saying, “To stand straight, you must shoot straight,” a metaphor about forthrightness directly from his muse.

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