Accession Number
1983/2.143

Title
Pendant

Artist(s)
Dogon

Artist Nationality
Dogon (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1950

Medium & Support
brass

Dimensions
1 5/8 in x 1/2 in x 1 1/4 in (4.13 cm x 1.27 cm x 3.18 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. Allen F. Roberts in memory of Sidney H. Roberts

Subject matter
Dieterlen (1942) argues that such pendants may have been used to capture the souls of women who died during childbirth. She observed the display of a calabash filled with such pendants in a sanctuary outside of a Dogon village, as these women could not be commemorated on the normal ancestral altars, because of their unfortunate deaths. The iconography of this pendant supports this possible reference to death during childbirth. 

G. Dieterlen. 1942. Les âmes des Dogon. Paris, Institut d'ethnologie. 

Physical Description
Pendant in the form of a pregnant woman holding her stomach. 

Primary Object Classification
Jewelry

Primary Object Type
pendant

Collection Area
African

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
births
brasswork (visual works)
pendant
pendants
pendants (jewelry)
pregnancy
pregnant
woman
women (female humans)