Bura Figurative Vessel Top, Based

The eyes have been almost erased. Time does that to a face.

The Bura people of Niger made this terra cotta vessel top between the 11th and 15th centuries. Bura figures are known from burial grounds in the Niger River valley, where they were associated with funerary jars. A tall, rounded cylinder. A long ridge of nose running from the crown to a small, pursed mouth. Pale, sandy clay with patches of orange, gently eroded. Nine inches tall, on a custom base.

What remains is calm. The expression, apparently, was never in the eyes.