Offering a bronze effigy of a HOGON, a Shaman Priest ofThe cult of Lebe, the Earth God.All Dogon villages have a Lebe shrine whose altars have bits of earth incorporated into them to encourage the continued fertility of the land. . According to Dogon beliefs, the god Lebe visits the Hogon's every night in the form of serpents, which licks their skins in order to purify them and infuse them with life force. The Hogon's are responsible for guarding the purity of the soil and therefore officiate at many agricultural ceremonies. This Bronze is very unusual as it shows the Hogon and serpents arising from all angles, some eating toads, some wrapped around his stool and even coming forth from his ceremonial vessel.Created in bronze using the lost wax method, this is a very old and rare shrine object from the Dogon.The sculpture measures 7 x 6.5 inches and has heavy earthen deposits suggesting years of use on a ritual shrine.provenance: The Dr Brian Healy estate, New York.

Fair, weathered, eroded