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Equestrian

17th–19th century

Not on view

Horses are rare in Dogon communities but figure prominently in the spiritual and creative imagination. They appear in origin stories relating to creation and to the arrival of Dogon migrants from distant lands. Some depictions of male riders have been thought to be related to Dyon, the primordial ancestor who, according to oral tradition, led the original migration from a Mande homeland to the Bandiagara cliffs. In that story, Dyon guided his three brothers on horseback in search of new territory where they and their descendants might live in peace.

Equestrian, Wood, pigments, Dogon peoples — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Equestrian, Wood, pigments, Dogon peoples

Equestrian, Wood, pigments, Dogon peoples

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This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Equestrian

Date: 17th–19th century

Geography: Mali

Culture: Dogon peoples

Medium: Wood, pigments

Dimensions: H. 18 × W. 5 1/2 × D. 9 in. (45.7 × 14 × 22.9 cm)

Classification: Wood-Sculpture

Credit Line: Private Collection

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.