Grand Cavalier 35 cm - Dogon - Mali

Among the Dogon, the horse is very present in mythology and cosmology.

The creator god Amma, from the four elements, creates « a living germ », the basis of the world. Four twin pairs, ancestors of humans, namely the eight Nommo, are then formed.

After a period of great disorder caused by Ogo, one of the twins, Amma sacrifices the second twin, then resurrects him by giving him a human form.

The resurrected Nommo descends to Earth using an ark that metamorphoses into a horse.

The horse is associated with the Hogon, the religious leader. The Hogon is depicted astride a horse on rings, or in wooden rider sculptures, or again in bronze lost-wax casting.