ticketsMember | Make a donation

Seated Male Figure

12th–14th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Middle Niger artists added and inscribed details on their fluidly modeled bodily forms. The formal unity of these solitary, introspective seated male figures suggests the output of a workshop. Each has the same stylized arrangement of limbs, stone-bead necklaces, and metal bracelets. The interpretive potential of such ancient creations has been severely compromised by their lack of archaeological provenance. To ignore their existence is, however, to deny one of the most significant moments in Sahelian creative expression.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Seated Male Figure
  • Date: 12th–14th century
  • Geography: Mali, Ségou Region
  • Culture: Middle Niger civilization
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: (Approximately) H. 17 11/16 × W. 15 × D. 11 in. (45 × 38.1 × 27.9 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Collection of Daniel and Marian Malcolm
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing