For your consideration is this Rare African Bambara/Dogon Granary Metal-fitted Wood Door Lock, Mali, Africa, with crossbolt. Used to secure houses, granaries, rooms holding sacred pieces and some shrines. The locks were attached to the doors with large iron clips. Bambara (Bamana) doorlocks range from the abstract and symbolic to representations of ancestors. They are usually larger and more figurative than those of their Dogon neighbors. Gravity-fed metal pins drop into holes in the sliding bolt, some of which also have a metal cover for additional strength and resistance to wear. Locks such as these, one piece vertical and the other horizontal, were affixed with large iron staples through holes to house doors, which were usually plain. Placing an image of an ancestor on the doorlock offered additional protection by making the door sacrosanct. Such locks were given as gifts to young brides and symbolized sexual intercourse: a vertical female figure with a moving ‘male’ horizontal bolt. They were passed from generation to generation. The locks tended to be given names according to the message, ancestor or story to which their form and motifs referred. Provenance: the Owen D. Mort, Jr. Collection. Owen David Mort was an American engineer who amassed an impressive collection throughout his worldwide travels. His collection has included art, artifacts and other historical items from which he has donated to museums at the University of Utah and Snite Museum of Art, the University of Notre Dame, including African, Afghan and Asian artifacts. The Bamana people live in West Africa, primarily in Mali. They also live in Guinea, Sénégal, Burkina Faso and Niger. They are the majority of Mali’s population (the Bamana dialect is the dominant dialect of Mali.) Today, most Bamana are nominally Muslim, but traditional tribal beliefs also remain strong. This Bambara granary door lock is nicely hand-carved, the vertical piece has a stylized upper section, a dark patina consistent with extensive use and age observed throughout. Measures 15.5"W x 16.5"L attached, weight 2lb, 6oz approximate.