H x W x D: 7 x 2.9 x 3.8 cm (2 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 1 1/2 in.)
Type:
Figure
Geography:
Sierra Leone
Date:
15th-17th century
Label Text:
Called nomoli in Mende, this figure is one among many similar examples that have been found throughout southeastern Sierra Leone and neighboring Guinea. Recent scholarship has identified the makers of the figures as the Sapi, whose present-day linguistic descendants are the Baga, Temne and Bullom. Stylistically they are similar to Sapi Portuguese ivory carvings dated to the 15th and 16th centuries. The Sapi tradition of carving stone figures probably dates at least to the 15th century. While no longer made, such figures have been found in the ground and are reused in a variety of ritual contexts by peoples in the area such as the Mende, Bullom and Kono.
The original purpose of such figures is the subject of ongoing debate, but the attributes of other examples and the customs of local inhabitants have caused scholars to speculate that the figures were commemorative, representing the regenerative force of an identifiable, honored ancestor or a recently deceased prominent person.
Provenance:
African trader, Liberia, -- to 1965-1967
Robert and Nancy Nooter, Washington, DC, 1965-1967 to 1980
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