DOGON Granary Window Shutter (Three Rows of Nommo + Maternal Form)

The largest and most iconographically dense of the Dogon granary shutters in the collection (19th C. – 1st half 20th C., 67 cm). Combines the praying Nommo of shutter 36 with the maternal body of shutter 37, compressed onto a single plane.

1. The Granary as the Center of the Universe

For the Dogon, the granary is the most important architectural structure in the village.

• Not Just a Silo: It is a physical scaled-down model of the universe, referred to as the "Sanctuary of Food" — representing the survival of the lineage. These heavy wooden doors and shutters are installed to protect the harvest from physical thieves and, more importantly, from spiritual contamination.

2. Multiplication Through Stacked Nommo

• Three Rows of Figures: This shutter features three vertical rows of human figures with arms raised to the sky. Each row represents the Nommo — the primordial ancestors — or their human priests, praying for rain.
• Magical Multiplication: The repetition is not decorative. Each added row is an amplified plea for the multiplication of the family lineage and the multiplication of the grain inside the silo. Three rows produce threefold abundance.

3. Fertility and the Maternal Granary

• Prominent Breasts: Carved in high relief alongside the rows of figures, the stylized breasts mark the granary as conceptually female. It nurtures and feeds the family just as a mother does.
• Integrated Iconography: By combining the prayer-gesture of the Nommo with the maternal body, this shutter compresses two distinct Dogon cosmological ideas — ancestral intercession and maternal sustenance — onto a single sculptural plane.

Summary

This shutter is the most complete wooden prayer book of the four. It asks for rain through stacked Nommo figures and names the silo itself as a mother — producing a dense, layered invocation that guards the family's most precious resource.