In the Bandiagara mountains of eastern Mali, the Dogon people have large ‘tree ladders’ (see cat. no. 15). Using these the Dogon people can reach their tall millet granaries, get onto the flat roofs of their houses or get over clay walls in their farmsteads.
However, the Dogon people also have small miniature versions of these ‘tree ladders’. They are exact replicas of the larger ladders, also with a forked open end and grooved notches – only they are much smaller. These miniature ladders are important sacred objects for the Dogon people.
In every Dogon house there is a room with an altar, on which sacred figures stand for different occasions and ceremonies. On such altars there is always also a small, yet very important, round clay pot. According to a religious belief of the Dogon people, the soul of the head of the clan is preserved inside this clay pot, and small miniature ladders, such as this one, lean against the pot (or are placed alongside it). This is because when the head of the clan dies, his soul must be able to climb out of its clay pot – with the help of these ladders – so that it may successfully reach the afterlife and the world of its ancestors. It is for this reason that these miniature ladders are also known as ‘soul ladders’. The real, large Dogon ‘tree ladders’ always have a very flat, ‘smooth’ usage patina resulting from years of use by the Dogon people, who climb on them with their hands and feet every day. By contrast, the small miniature ladders are always indoors on a house altar. Like all sacred objects on the altar, they regularly receive sacrificial offerings (such as millet gruel etc.). Hence the present small ‘soul ladder’ has a thick, encrusted patina rather than a shiny one, as a result of repeated sacrificial offerings. Height: 27 cm. First third of the 20th century or earlier. (ME)

Provenance:
German private collection.

Lit.:
'Dogon' by Helene Leloup, Musée du Quai Branly Paris, ill. 185.