Bobo Seated Maternity Figure

She sits on a stool, a child against her chest, and she is four inches tall.

The Bobo of Burkina Faso cast this seated maternity figure in iron in the 20th century. Small metal figures were made in the region for personal protection and for family and community shrines. The mother sits upright, one arm cradling the child while the other rests across her knees, the hand spread wide. A tall, pointed crest rises above her compact face. A finely textured collar circles her shoulders, and ringed bands mark the arms.

The patina is dark, with traces of green settled into the recesses. Pocket-sized, and plainly a great deal bigger than that.