West Africa, Mali, Dogon people, mid-20th century. A forged iron ritual figure of extreme abstraction: a slender vertical shaft rises from a coiled, serpent-like base, branches into two upraised prongs read as arms, and ends in a hooked head. The form is probably a Binou shrine object (binu gina), made by a Dogon blacksmith.

Dogon smiths held a special ritual status, and iron objects of this kind were placed on or near shrines to the Binou ancestors, whose cult is linked to rain, fertility and the founding of lineages. Their spare, gestural shapes, with arms raised as if in prayer or invocation, have made them favourites with collectors of modern art. The surface has a deep, even rust patina.