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Seated figure

12th–16th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 341
Carved stone heads and figures with broad, bulging features adorned with elaborate clothing, jewelry, and coiffures, were made by the Sapi people as memorials for dignitaries. The Sapi, early inhabitants of the Western Guinea Coast and ancestors of the present-day Temne, Bullom, and Landuma peoples, among others, were assimilated by immigrants from the Western Sudan in the mid-sixteenth century. Portuguese records along with stylistically similar ivory carvings for Portuguese patrons help in dating the stone sculptures to the sixteenth century. Found accidentally in fields and riverbeds, they are variously identified as ancestors, castoffs from previous inhabitants of the region, or nature spirits. The sculptures are commonly placed on family altars to ensure fertile fields, and they serve in oath-taking and divination rituals.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Seated figure
  • Artist: Temne or Bullom artist(s)
  • Date: 12th–16th century
  • Geography: Sierra Leone, Kissodougou region (?)
  • Culture: Temne or Bullom
  • Medium: Stone
  • Dimensions: H. 19 11/16 x W. 8 1/4 x D. 9 1/2 in. (50 x 21 x 24.1cm)
  • Classification: Stone-Sculpture
  • Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
  • Object Number: 1979.206.270
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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