Fragment of a Kneeling Figure

11th-14th century

Jenné-Jeno
Inland Niger Delta region, Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Little is known about the meaning and function of the terracotta figures discovered in various sites around the abandoned city of Jenné-Jeno in modern Mali. Archaeological excavations revealed that figures like this partial example were set into the walls and foundations of buildings, suggesting they served a religious purpose. The loincloth and stack of bracelets on this figure indicated high social rank. The snakes wrapping around his torso are common in the iconography of the Inland Niger Delta and undoubtedly had symbolic significance.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Niger Delta
Title: Fragment of a Kneeling Figure
Place: Mali (Object made in)
Date: 1001–1400
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: 47.6 × 23.5 × 30.5 cm (18 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 12 in.)
Credit Line: Maurice D. Galleher, Ada Turnbull Hertle, and Laura R. Magnuson funds
Reference Number: 1983.917
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/100938/manifest.json

Bernard de Grunne, “Ancient Sculpture of the Inland Niger Delta and its Influence on Dogon Art, African Arts, vol. 11, no. 4 (August 1988), pp. 50-92; 54 (ill.).
Kathleen Bickford and Cherise Smith, “Art of the Western Sudan,” African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Studies, vol, 23, no. 2 (1997), pp. 104-119; 108 (ill.).
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), cat. no. 4, pp. 34-35.

Probably Adama Ouologuem, Bamako, Mali [personal communication with P. Guimiot, Feb. 2014, documented in curatorial file]; sold to Philippe Guimiot, Bamako, Mali, and Brussels, Belgium, likely after 1976 [personal communication with P. Guimiot, Feb. 2014, documented in curatorial file; acquisition documentation in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1983.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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