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African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting
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Pendant: Kneeling Male Figure
Mali; Inland Niger Delta, 14th–16th century
Copper alloy; H. 3 3/4 in. (9.6 cm)
Provenance: [Philippe Guimiot, New York, before 1984]; Barbier-Mueller collection, since 1984
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The urban center of Jenne-Jeno flourished in Mali's Inland Delta of the Niger River in the ninth century A.D., but declined and was abandoned by 1400. Terracotta figures and items of cast brass and forged iron testify to the sophistication of this cosmopolitan society. In miniaturized format and on an intimate scale, this figurine reflects continuities across media in the broader material culture of an archaeological tradition renowned for its sculptural representations in fired clay. The devotional posture of the arms and the arrangement of the legs are identical to that of the terracotta kneeling male figure.
See the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History to learn more about Jenne-Jeno and the Inland Niger Delta.
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