Bura Figurative Vessel Top, Based

The jar is gone. The head remains, and so does the long look.

The Bura culture is known from burial sites along the Niger River, where heads and figures modeled in clay surmounted jars set over the graves. This terra cotta head crowned a vessel made in Niger between the 11th and 15th centuries. Seven inches tall, with a domed head, a small rounded ear, two pierced nostrils on a flat nose, a narrow pursed mouth above a long column-like neck. Faint incised lines remain near the brow. The reddish clay is rough and earthy, with a crack across one cheek.

On a custom metal mount. Expect nothing from it but attention.