Container or Ointment box – Wood – Dogon – Mali

Beautiful old wooden Dogon ointmenbox or container from Mali. The box has 3 leopard figures in it. On the sides of the container there are 2 ancestor figures.

The Dogon (or Kaador, Kaado) are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa, south of the Niger bend, near the city of Bandiagara, and in Burkina Faso. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000. Dogon containers were used to hold food consumed during the investment rituals of Dogon religious and political leaders known as hogon. Hogon are the high priests of the cult of Lebe, the first Dogon ancestor to die, whose body was miraculously transformed into a snake after his death. Associated with regeneration and renewal, the cult is charged with maintaining the earth’s fertility and ensuring the protection and well-being of Dogon society.