Banama Tribe, Mali. Impressive and rare large door with original lock still in place, carved with an important sized male and female couple in relief, of long linear and abstract form, probably a primordial couple. A long lizard with extended tail occupying length of the door is carved along the right border, and a small reptile with splayed legs appears in the center. The lock is in the form of an anthropomorphic figure wearing a peaked bamada hat, worn by the Komo society, and thus endowed with their supernatural protective power; the rectangular body incised with linear pattern, and intersected with long horizontal shaft missing the metal lock mechanism. Long rectangular sections of wood fortify structure along top and bottom, and create a frame for the images. Doors with carved surfaces are very rare among the Bamana. Cf. Imperato, P., Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards: Door Locks of the Bamana of Mali, 2001. Measures 63-1/2"H x 26"W.

Provenance: Deaccessioned from the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.


All items in this auction are legal to buy/sell under U.S. statute covering cultural patrimony per United States Code 2600, CHAPTER 14 -- CONVENTION ON CULTURAL PROPERTY, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

Highlighted areas of red-brown pigment, blackened surface crackled and areas of thick encrusted patina. Weathered with age cracks along length, surface abrasion.