The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Statuette of a Black African Person

100–50 BCE

Greece, Greco-Roman Period, late Ptolemaic Dynasty

bronze, solid cast, with silver and copper inlays
Overall: 18.4 x 5.3 x 7.2 cm (7 1/4 x 2 1/16 x 2 13/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 1963.507
Location: 102C Greek

Did You Know?

The intentionally dark patina contrasts with the inlaid silver eyes and copper lips.

Description

Characterized as a Black African person by his hair, facial features, and unusually dark patina, this figure wears a non-Greek type of hat and a simple garment associated with lower classes. His stooped posture suggests that he may have a physical disability, something rarely depicted in Greek art. His right foot and right hand (with bowl) are modern restorations done before the statuette came to Cleveland, perhaps in the 1800s.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 24 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 24 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 28 archive.org
    Neils, Jenifer. “A Horseman from Tarentum.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 9 (November 1981): 331–338. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 331-332, fig. 2 www.jstor.org
    Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
    Published as: Black Banausos Mentioned and reproduced: P. 128-131, cat. no. 20
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 12 archive.org
    Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 475; Mentioned: p. 475-6
    Stewart, Andrew F. Art in the Hellenistic World: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, New York. 2014. Discussed and reproduced p. 236
  • Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 27, 1963-January 5, 1964).
    CMA, 25 November 1963-5 January 1964, Year in Review for 1963, cat.: CMA Bulletin 50, no. 10 (December 1963), no. 82, illus. p. 265; CMA/Los Angeles/Boston 1988-89, no. 20 (entry by Marion True)
  • {{cite web|title=Statuette of a Black African Person|url=false|author=|year=100–50 BCE|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.507