A Soninke hermaphrodite sold for $ 530K including premium by Sotheby's on May 15, 2009 marks an archaic tendency to personify on a single individual the male strength and the female fertility.
The Dogons came later. On May 19 in New York, Christie's sells a 39 cm high wooden statuette attributed to the Dogon N'Duleri cultural entity influenced by their more archaic neighbors the Djennenke, lot 6 estimated $ 1.5M. Its age is estimated between 360 and 190 years.
This figure is a twin maternity. The Dogons believed that the primordial man named Nommo multiplied himself through four pairs of mythical twins. The fertile woman with salient breasts is kneeling in an attitude of respect applied in the Djennenke funeral ceremonies. The two babies are on her laptop and scrutinize the future each one on his own side.
SOLD for $ 1.2M including premium
Le 19 mai a lieu une vente de 12 chefs-d’œuvre de l’art traditionnel africain chez Christie’s à New-York #Dogon https://t.co/TL3T1ryUU6 pic.twitter.com/RS87hBADIN
— Christie's Paris (@christiesparis) May 15, 2017