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Female Figure
Tellem (Mali)
Possibly 11th to 19th century
- Medium
- Wood and sacrificial material
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 49.2 × 6.7 × 6.9 cm (19 5/8 × 2 5/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Mali
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Africa
- Credit line
- Gift of Grace Hokin
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
The raised arms, pared-down form, and crusty patina of this female figure are hallmarks of the Tellem sculptural style from Mali. Her pose has been interpreted as a plea for rain. Placed on an altar, the figure would have received offerings of sacrifices, resulting in the thick coating that imbued it with a vital energy. The Tellem, who occupied the arid region of the Bandiagara Escarpment from the 11th to the 16th century, are believed to be predecessors of contemporary Dogon people.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
