Bura Figurative Vessel Top, Based

It was once the top of a vessel, and it kept its head.

This terra cotta head and neck was made by the Bura people of Niger between the 11th and 15th centuries. The Bura culture is known from burial sites along the Niger River, where terra cotta jars, heads and figures were placed with the dead. Nine and a half inches tall, the head is a flattened oval with a slight crest, narrow slit eyes, a broad nose and a small mouth, set on a long cylindrical neck. Small holes pierce the sides of the head.

The pale, sandy clay is pitted and worn, with traces of earth still clinging to it.

The earth has not quite let go.