Wooden Door Lock
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Jan 2004
label: Collection Date
content: 1970
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Pascal J. Imperato
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Pascal J. Imperato
notes: label: Notes
content: Lock carved from dark wood. Vertical piece is a stylized body with cone-shaped head, rectangular midsection, and two bent legs. The locking device has two holes for pins, but since the pins are missing, the horizontal piece is detachable. The horizontal piece tapers on one end. Lateral key insertion. Weathered.
label: Notes
content: The donor writes: "This lock was sculpted in the late 1930s by the master blacksmith Siriman Fane...The lock was made for a family in the village of Miniankabougou in the Arondissement of Markala...who discarded it in the late 1960s after having converted to Islam." "According to Siriman, it was intended to represent the kana (water iguana), and to protect against sorcerers and malevolent nyama. The triangular lizard head sits atop a stylized neck, while the verical beam is supported by two legs. These anthropomorphic features, according to Siriman, reflect Faro's possession of some human physical characteristics. Their contextual association with the stylized form of kana emphasized the intimate relationship between Faro and these water creatures: they can serve as his avatars and are empowered to neutralize sorcerers..." (Imperato, p. 77)
label: Notes
content: Exhibited in "Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards; Door Locks of the Bamana of Mali" at the African Art Museum of the SMA Fathers, Tenafly, NJ, October 15, 2001 - Aug 15, 2002. Illustrated in the exhibition catalog, p. 77.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 Nov 2014
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Koke / Miniankabougou, Markala, Segou, Mali, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Bamana (Bambara)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2029953
label: USNM Number
content: E431606-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Lock
physicalDescription: label: Length
content: 6 cm
label: Width
content: 36 cm
label: Height
content: 48 cm