Male figure
Unknown Artist
probably 1800s
Medium
Copper alloy
Dimensions
44.7 × 22.7 × 9.6 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
2016.57
About this artwork
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.