superb magic pot - Dogon - Mali (No reserve price)

Magical bronze pots - Dogon - Mali - Bronzes
This type of container is presumably used to store ointments or other magical or medicinal preparations.

All the animals carved on the vessel are symbols that will reinforce the potency of the medicinal preparation contained in the pot.

The tortoise, the crocodile, the bird, and the scorpion are usually represented.

The lid, when it is still present, is often topped by a bird, sometimes by a Nommo.

Other variants, more recent, are stylized, with the pot possibly covered in spikes.