Hogon A Horse

 

The rider or knight in his saddle is a redundant theme in dogon art. In bronze, iron and wood mainly the knight and his mount appear in multiple forms, holding the bridle with one or two hands, one or both hands raised, with a spear in the hand or a hand raised in greeting or peace gesture, are frequent figures in the dogon statuery. But not only among the dogon, the figures of terracotta knights riding on horseback are also very frequent throughout the curve of Niger. However, given the geography of the country dogon the horse is not a very representative animal of the place. The horse is frequently depicted with rigid, straight and solid legs while the knight, whatever his position, transcends a halo of nobility or dignity. A rounded or slightly peaked beard helps to reinforce the figure's authoritative appearance. The horse in Mali has always been linked to warlike deeds and is related to warlords and military leaders. These figures are linked to the Hogon, the spiritual and religious leader of the Dogon, belonging to the Harou clan, one of the four original lineages of the Dogon.

According to legend the Dogon would have fled armed troops on horseback, cavalry of the army of Ouedrago or Male horse, first ancestor of the Mossiand abandoned the territory they occupied in what is the current Burkina Fasso to take refuge on the cliffs of Bandiagara.

It is also associated, the horse, to the ark that, in the dogon cosmogony, descended from the sky suspended to a thread of copper carrying the first ancestor who became a horse to drag it to find the first rains that made it float like a canoe. The ark is depicted as a sort of rectangular arch with a head and a horse tail at the ends.

This dogon knight figure probably presents a Hogon riding a horse with his legs folded. The left hand holds the bridle while it seems to greet the right hand. Statue that forms a single block with the base.