Door Lock (Konbalabala)

Artist Bamana artist

Date20th century

MediumWood and metal

Dimensions18 3/4 x 15 x 3 1/4 in. (47.6 x 38.1 x 8.3 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Lewis W. Pate

Object numberGL.73.15.18/a-b

On View

Not on view

Label TextThe Bamana people, like the Dogon, employ door locks on houses, granaries, chicken coops, and courtyards. Constructed by a blacksmith, each Bamana lock consists of a wooden vertical element (which may take the form of a human figure or animal), a sliding horizontal crosspiece, the metal interior workings, and a wooden or metal key.
Traditionally, male-figure locks were placed on the doors of married women to ensure their faithfulness, whereas female-figure locks were used on men's rooms to prevent them from being unfaithful to their wives. Sculptural locks have declined in use among the Bamana due to the influence of the Islamic faith, which discourages figural imagery, and due to frequent theft of these intriguing carvings.
Published References"Recent Acquisitions," (exhibition catalogue) North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 12, no. 3 (March 1974), cat. no. 60.

Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 65.

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 44.

Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Recent Acquisitions," June 16-August 18, 1974, cat. no. 60, illus. (b-w). Object Rights Statement

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