Large Hogon Vessel
- ôgô banya
- Mali, Bandiagara Plateau
- Dogon
- 18th-19th century
- Hardwood. Indigenous restorations
- H.: 83.8 cm
- Formerly Charles Ratton et Frederic R. Pleasants collections.
- INV. 1004-33
A woman, seated on a stool, is crushing millet. She is perched on the lid of a small wooden vessel, itself standing on the lid of a much larger vessel carried by a horse-like animal. The work of a blacksmith-sculptor and skilfully restored by him, this piece combines the pure lines of in-the-round sculpture and the delicately incised geometric decoration covering the double recipient.
The extent of the indigenous repairs shows the pains taken to preserve this sacred object from the ravages of time. It is intimately linked to the person of Hogon or ogo, the man who became regarded by the community as the high priest of Lewe (or Lebe), [1] the spiritual sovereign and ‘living ancestor’ [2] designated by his peers by virtue of his birthright. [3] The prisoner of his responsibility as he is in his dwelling, the Hogon is depicted in the collective imagination as a seated figure, a pose evoking his dignity and authority.
Strangely, however, the seated figure on this large vessel (ôgô banya) is a woman – who in fact could only properly crush millet standing up. According to Jean-Louis Paudrat, [4] this female effigy, a substitute for the horseman more frequently depicted atop Hogon vessels, conveys the ambivalence of the power given to the highest-ranking religious dignitary. ‘Serving agrarian worship, her nature is that of the Earth, female when it is fertile, masculine during the long arid weeks preceding winter.’ [5] The base of the vessel is a depiction of the Hogon’s charger, the Nommo. [6] This iconographically complex recipient, sculpted for the Hogon’s enthronement, contains the meat which the priest shares with his companions at table. This vessel is one of the rare and priceless sculpted ones whose age is incontestable and remarkable for its female figure, whom some say is the Hogon’s wife.
[1] E. Jolly (1998) defines Lewe as a chtonian entity embodying the fertilising power of the earth and generally represented as a snake.
[2] Ibid.
[3] It seems that only the Hogon at Aru is elected irrespective of his age within the lineage holding political power.
[4] Paudrat 1994, p. 73.
[5] Ibid.
[6] In Dogon mythology, the Nommo is a water spirit.
- Floriane Morin
- Arts of Africa and Oceania. Highlights from the Musée Barbier-Mueller, musée Barbier-Mueller & Hazan (eds.), 2007: p. 78.
