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Male Figure
possibly 1300s–1600s
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- Africa, West Africa, Mali, probably Djenné-Djenno, Inland Niger Delta culture-style maker
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, African Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
Figures like this would have been used in rituals by the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants of the Inland Niger Delta. Representing the gods and kings or queens associated with the region’s former residents, the figures received prayers and offerings in exchange for their support. The seated position of this male has been interpreted as a harmful pose intended to bring death to an individual.
