Many Dogon locks allude to a myth that relates how the god Amma made the world from clay and created the first pair of living beings-nommo. This lock, its torso surmounted by a schematic head, may belong to a relatively rare type depicting a single nommo. Another interpretation suggests that its...
Provenance
1970s, acquired in Bamako, Mali by Geneviève McMillan (b. 1922 - d. 2008), Cambridge, MA; 2008, to the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation, Cambridge; 2009, gift of the Geneviève McMillan and Reba Stewart Foundation to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 17, 2009)
Credit Line
Gift of Geneviève McMillan in memory of Reba Stewart
African, Dogon peoples, Mali, 20th century, 1950–2000
Object Place
Mali
Dimensions
Height x width: 39.7 x 37 x 4 cm (15 5/8 x 14 9/16 x 1 9/16 in.)
Accession Number
2009.2773
Medium or Technique
Wood, nails