John L. Severance Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗

Africa, West Africa, Nigeria, Benue River Valley, Unidentified maker · probably 1800s

Male figure

Creator not recorded by the museum

Date: probably 1800s
Medium: Copper alloy
Dimensions: height: 44.7 x 22.7 x 9.6 cm (17 5/8 x 8 15/16 x 3 3/4 in.)
Country / context: Nigeria
Movement / tradition: African sculpture
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Pathway: African sculpture ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

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.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

A 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.

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