Mali
Dogon

Wood, bamboo, rattan
Early-Mid 20th Century
Height: 24 inches
Idiophone – Lamellophones – Plucked

Both vocal and instrumental music, as well as dance, played a significant cultural role in the lives of the Dogon people of Mali.  This anthropomorphic shape sanza consists of five (5) bamboo keys (lamellas) positioned over a hide covered sound box.  The hands and legs are jutting out from the body of the instrument with arms above the head as if in dancing.  This sanza shows deposits of kaolin paste throughout resulting from libatory practices: The act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice, such as to a diety.  The sanza is also representative of a Dogon statue, that can also be worshipped.  Their functions, however, remain little known.  The Dogon religious rites are organized around four main cults:  Lebe – relating to fertility;  Wagem – cult of ancestors under the authority of the patriarch; Binou – lead by the priest to invoke the spirit world; and the society of masks concerning funerals.