Figurines en alliage cuivreux

Figurines in Cuprous Alloy

These three figurines (the two on the left appear to have been made in the same workshop) were acquired in different cities in Europe and the United States over a thirty-year period. They have been referred to as ‘pre-Dogon’, a double inaccuracy since the Dogon were metal forgers and never modelled figures in wax to create statuettes in molten cuprous alloys. These figurines are stylistically close to ‘Djenne’ ceramics.

In an extremely pertinent study, [1] Bernard de Grunne showed that the adjective ‘djennenke’, recently coined to designate one of the styles of the Inland Niger Delta, is absurd since the town of Djenne was created in around the twelfth century by Muslims, in reaction to the pagan practices of the former Djenne (Djenne Jeno). Djenne was inhabited by diverse ethnic groups from the outset – Bozo, Somono, Bambara, Peul and Soninke – so there cannot be a specifically ‘djennenke’ form of artistic expression as such.

Comparing them to the more geometric and angular forms of Dogon statuary and drawing on numerous previous studies, de Grunne attributed anthropomorphic terracotta or metal sculptures with the following characteristics to the Soninko: (sing.: Soninke) fluid modelling of the body, protruding stomach, broad hands, wrist and ankle bracelets, armbands, and above all scarifications in relief between the eye and ear on the nobles of some of their clans, including the Kagoro.

The Soninko (called Sarakole in Senegal and Marka by the Bambara) founded the Wagadu Empire, which Almoravid incursions weakened in the thirteenth century. [2] After their subsequent dispersal (which began earlier according to some authors), some of their clans settled on the banks of the Niger. The Kagoro clan settled on the Bandiagara Plateau, near to the Dogon. The (altar?) figurines or amulets ‘with scarifications’ can reasonably be attributed to them and dated to the fourteenth to seventeenth century.

[1] Grunne 2001.

[2] Diallo 1993.