Ring Depicting a Rider on Horseback

Arts of Africa

Probably late 19th/early 20th century

Dogon
Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Small cast copper-alloy ornaments are made across West Africa within the arc of the great Niger River. Brass or bronze casting has powerful associations with the supernatural because, like ironworking, it is a highly specialized process that uses fire to transform a raw material into a form that is useful and meaningful to humans. Dogon political and spiritual leaders wear copper-alloy ornaments that express power, such as this remarkably detailed horse and rider.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Dogon
Title: Ring Depicting a Rider on Horseback
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.: 1875–1925
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: H.: 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Richard Faletti, the Faletti Family Collection
Reference Number: 2006.116

New York, N.Y., Museum for African Art, Animals in African Art: From the Familiar to the Marvelous, cat. 18; traveled to Omaha, Neb., Joslyn Art Museum, May 18-July 14, 1996, Montgomery, Ala., Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1996, n.d., Charlotte, N.C., Mint Museum of Art, Oct. 26, 1996-Jan. 5, 1997, Long Beach, Calif., Long Beach Museum of Art, n.d., Dallas, Tex., Dallas Museum of Art, n.d.

Unnamed owner, Bamako, Mali; sold to Susan and Jerome Vogel, New York, N.Y., by 1991. William Wright, William Wright Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1991; sold to Richard Faletti (died 2006), Faletti Family Collection, Phoenix, Ariz., 1991; given to the Art Institute, 2006.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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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.

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