Ritual staff - Dogon - Mali

Antique ritual staff in the shape of a thin axe. This item was deposited in a funerary cave alongside a deceased family member. The early Dogon and their predecessors the Tellem, used these ceremonial gifts as a token of the stature of the deceased person. He could have been a traditional priest or a hunter. The caves in the Falaise de Bandiagara in the Pays Dogon are known for their ancient burial sites. Decorated with iron nails and iron sheeting. At the end a thin iron axe is inserted. Nice patina, showing their burial-cave origin. This axe could date from the 17th to the 19th Cent.
Collected in situ in the late 1990,s and from a private Dutch collection.