An early 20th century Dogon Ladder from Mali carved from a naturally forked tree, mounted on a steel base.
Notched ladders are used by the Dogon people to access the upper levels of granaries and to climb onto the flat roofs of houses.
Though intended for everyday use, Dogon granary ladders such as this can be found in many African art collections and are particularly popular for use in interior design because of their simplistic and abstract form.