DOGON Ritual Thief STAFF Old African Sculpture Mali

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DOGON Ritual Thief STAFF Old African Sculpture Mali

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Sold Date: 12/31/2008
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

DOGON Ritual Thief STAFF Antique African Sculpture MALI

Dogon Yo Domolo Ritual Thief's Staff, Figure on Mask, Lebe Serpent Hook Head
Antique African Art - Tribal Sculpture Ritual Prestige Object - Mali

Collected from the: Dogon peoples of the Seno Plains in Mali, West Africa
Material: Carved wood, pigment, oil
Period: Mid 20th century
Dimensions: 18.5" length, 1.75" blade width, 8.5" depth; weight is 9.3 ounces
Condition: Exceptional, no damage or repair, patinated wear suggestive of frequent handling. Gorgeous dark patina, ever-so-slightly oily surface condition indicative of repeated libational rubbing - a gorgeous carving!

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Staff for the Ritual Thief YO DOMOLO Traditions and Uses
?Worn over the shoulder or held in the hand, curved staffs are emblems of the yona society or ?ritual thieves.? The meaning of the institution of ritual theft has puzzled even those who have studied it most closely. Each Dogon clan has a ritual thief, designated by the clan?s eldest member. The principal activity of the society seems to have occurred at the funeral of one of its members, when the yona all stalked the village, stealing and killing as many chickens, sheep, and goats as they could, to be sacrificed and eaten at the funeral ceremony. The burials of the yona were much like those of ordinary men except that the yona danced in honor of their deceased colleague and sang about his past exploits in killing and eating the stolen domestic animals. The staff of a ritual thief, called a yo domolo or thief?s staff, had a hooked shape similar to that of the ordinary club or staff ( domolo ) carried habitually by Dogon men over the shoulder. Domolo were used as weapons and tools and were sometimes used as ritual objects in binu sanctuaries and other altars. The thief?s staff was much more elaborate than a plain dolomo , with openwork, zigzag decoration along the top of the hook and, sometimes, human figures along the shaft. In some yo dolomo the shorter, hooked section of the staff resembles the head of an animal. Ogotemmeli, the Dogon elder who instructed Marcel Griaule in Dogon cosmology and religion, saw the ritual thieves and their staffs as a means of commemorating a different episode in the descent of the ark, one in which the mythical blacksmith stole embers from the sun in order to create fire for the benefit of mankind. Both interpretations raise a problem often encountered in discussions of Dogon art ? how to apply elements of the very complex Dogon cosmology, our understanding of which is itself pieced together from snippets obtained in research into a multitude of topics, to an object whose relationship to the myth is not known and whose function, history, and meaning in its own ritual context are not clearly understood.? See Ezra's Art of the Dogon for further details.

Dogon Tribal History
The 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...