Bura Figurative Vessel Top, Based

Pellets, ridges, a fan of lines. This face has a lot to say, and says it all at once.

Figurative terra cottas of this type were set on jars in Bura burial grounds, in Niger, and the Bura treated the face in many inventive ways. This vessel top was made in the 11th to 15th centuries. An oval head sits on a tapering column. A fan of raised lines spreads across the forehead from the nose, and small eyes sit under heavy lids. Clusters of pellets and ridges cover the cheeks, perhaps representing scarification or ornament.

The pale buff clay is worn and granular. Eight and a half inches tall on a black base. Look twice.