Female Figure

11th-19th century

Tellem or Dogon
Bandiagara region, Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Raised arms, pared-down forms, and crusty patinas are considered the hallmarks of the Tellem sculptural style. This figure’s pose has been interpreted as a plea for rain. Placed on an altar, it would have received offerings of sacrifices, resulting in the thick coating that imbued it with a vital energy. The Tellem, who occupied the arid region of the Bandiagara Escarpment from the 11th to the 16th century, are believed to be predecessors of contemporary Dogon people.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Tellem
Title: Female Figure
Place: Mali (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1001–1900
Medium: Wood and sacrificial material
Dimensions: 49.2 × 6.7 × 6.9 cm (19 5/8 × 2 5/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Grace Hokin
Reference Number: 1991.388
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/117839/manifest.json

Warren M. Robbins and Nancy Ingram Nooter, African Art in American Collections, Survey 1989 (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989), p. 55, fig. 12.
Kathleen E. Berzock and Cherise Smith, “Art of the Western Sudan,” The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 23, no. 2 (1997), pp. 110-111, fig. 4.
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), p. 37, fig. 1.

Art Institute of Chicago, African Abstraction: Dogon Figurative Sculpture, July 3- Oct. 20, 1996, no cat.

Henri (died 1992) and HélèneKamer (later Hélène Leloup), Henri A. Kamer Gallery, Paris, before 1964, reportedly found in Irelli, Mali [invoice of sale dated May 31, 1964 from Kamer Inc. in curatorial file; personal communication with Grace Hokin documented in curatorial file]; sold to Edwin Hokin (died 1990) and Grace E. Hokin (born Grace Cohen, died 2009), Chicago, IL, from May 1964 [invoice dated May 31, 1964 from Kamer Inc. in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute, 1991.

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