↗Central Andes (Peru), Recuay people · 1–700 CE
Architectural Vessel
Creator not recorded
John L. Severance Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Africa, West Africa, Mali, probably Djenné-Djenno, Inland Niger Delta culture-style maker · possibly 1300s–1600s
Male Figure
Creator not recorded by the museum
- Date
- possibly 1300s–1600s
- Medium
- Terracotta
- Dimensions
- Overall: 19.7 cm (7 3/4 in.)
- Country / context
- Mali
- Movement / tradition
- Sub-Saharan African arts
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- Sub-Saharan African arts ↗
FROM THE MUSEUM
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.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
