**Originally Listed At $1500**

West Africa, Central Mali, Pre-Dogon, Tellem peoples, ca. 16th century CE. A hand-carved wooden figure created by the Tellem peoples who preceded the Dogon in Mali. The piece presents characteristically abstract physiognomy with a round helmet or caplike coiffure, minimalized facial features, a pronounced collar or choker, arms beside a slender elongated torso, and a delineated penis. This figure was created by the Tellem peoples with an emphasis on volumetric forms and geometry. Scholars of various disciplines - archeology, art history, anthropology and history - agree that figures like this example were used in a burial context, as most were found in funerary caves. Size: 2.2" W x 7.5" H (5.6 cm x 19 cm); 10.1" H (25.7 cm) on included custom stand.

According to Giulia Paoletti, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Europeans first became aware of the existence of this culture in 1903. That year the French Lieutenant Louis Desplagnes travelled to Mali, to the high cliffs of Bandiagara 300 meters above the plains, where the Dogon people lived. Desplagnes interviewed members of the Dogon community who indicated some funerary caves that were used by the 'Tellem,' a local term that translates as 'we have found them.' According to oral accounts collected by Desplagnes and later confirmed in 1933 by anthropologist Marcel Griaule during his Dakar-Djibouti expedition, the Dogon had arrived at the Bandiagara escarpment in the fifteenth century and found the Tellem population living there. The two populations lived in the same area for about a century until the Tellem disappeared for unknown reasons." (Giulia Paoletti, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas Metropolitan Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art website)

A Tellem female figure sold for $156,250 at Bonhams Los Angeles - 23 May 2017, Lot 42. One may also see other Tellem wooden figures in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art such as 1978.561.2

Provenance: private Houston, Texas, USA collection; purchased from Christophe Rolley (private dealer in Paris, France)

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#156471

Expected weathering to the body with some losses to its lower end and one hand. Great deposits and patina with nice preservation of form.