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Figure

possibly early 1400s

Africa, West Africa, Sierra Leone, Sapi-style carver

Medium
soapstone
Measurements
Overall: 23.8 x 11.2 x 12.5 cm (9 3/8 x 4 7/16 x 4 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Lucile Munro in memory of her husband Thomas Munro, Curator of Education from 1931 to 1967 1976.29
Public Domain
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Location
108A African
Print
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Did You Know?

Sapi sculptors worked in stone—like in this sculpture—as well as ivory.

Description

The most varied group of soapstone figures and heads has been found in the homelands of the Kissi. Calling them pomda ("images of the dead"), the Kissi placed them in ancestral shrines, offering them the last seeds at sowing times and the first fruits of the harvest. However, the sculptures are believed to have been made centuries ago by the ancestors of the Kissi, the so-called Sapi people.
A gray soapstone sculpture depicts a squatting figure facing left, hands resting on raised knees. The figure has almond-shaped eyes, a wide nose, and upward-curving lips. A textured hairstyle of parallel ridges covers the head, with a small hole near the ear. A circular pattern is carved on the torso's side. The pitted, weathered surface is marked with dark patches throughout.

Figure

possibly early 1400s

Africa, West Africa, Sierra Leone, Sapi-style carver

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