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African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting
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Kneeling Male Figure
Mali; Inland Niger Delta, 14th–16th century
Terracotta; H. 17 3/8 in. (44.3 cm)
Provenance: [René Garcia, Paris, before 1985]; Barbier-Mueller collection, 1985
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One of West Africa's earliest sculptural traditions developed in Mali's Inland Delta of the Niger River. There, by the middle of the first millennium A.D., the urban center of Jenne-Jeno flourished as a result of trans-Saharan trade. Regional artists created terracotta sculptures depicting a variety of subjects that range from equestrian warriors and soldiers to individuals whose postures and gestures suggest attitudes of devotion. This sculpture is one of a small group of formally and iconographically related figures that are distinctive for the relatively small dimension of the bare head at the body's summit.
See the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History to learn more about Jenne-Jeno and the Inland Niger Delta.
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