Dogon pharmacopoeia box

Dogon Pharmacopoeia Box
This bronze box has been made by blacksmiths of the Irim caste and is intended to store medicinal herbs and remedies used in traditional Dogon medicine. The box, oval in shape with a lid, is decorated with elements and figures typical of the epic of the settlement of the first ancestor on earth.
According to that legend, the first ancestor came down from heaven aboard an ark suspended by fine copper wires. Upon touching the bend of the Niger River, the ancestor took the form of a powerful two-headed horse in order to drag the ark to a large mass on which he could float and move as he pleased.
The box presents the ark from which two heads and two horse tails protrude. On the sides and the lid there are several lizards that represent the deity Nommo, and some aquatic symbols. The box rests on four legs.

Length: 43.0 cm; Height: 11.0 cm; Width: 12.0cm; Weight: 1.93 Kg