# Male figure

- Date: probably 1800s
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: height: 44.7 x 22.7 x 9.6 cm (17 5/8 x 8 15/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Benue River Valley, Unidentified maker
- Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.57)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2016.57/2016.57_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Realized in a very distinctive style using the lost-wax method, this figure’s cultural origin and function is limited because it was removed from Nigeria during that country’s turbulent civil war of the late 1960s. Perhaps it was once part of an altar or shrine dedicated to a guardian or tutelary spirit. Connotations of prestige and wealth may explain why copper-alloy objects were diffused across vast territory and inherited over many generations.