Ring Depicting a Rider on Horseback

Small cast copper-alloy ornaments are made across West Africa within the arc of the great Niger River. Brass or bronze casting has powerful associations with the supernatural because, like ironworking, it is a highly specialized process that uses fire to transform a raw material into a form that is useful and meaningful to humans. Dogon political and spiritual leaders wear copper-alloy ornaments that express power, such as this remarkably detailed horse and rider.