Katsina Seated Male Figure

Clay remembers. Nigerian potters have known this for centuries.

Figures like this one were modeled for shrines, funerary settings and the honoring of ancestors. He sits upright on a cylindrical base, long neck, elongated head, small eyes, pointed nose, pursed mouth. Thick arms bring the hands to the knees. The legs drop straight down. The coarse terracotta is gritty, warm buff shading to pale orange, and the joins and repairs at neck and torso are plain to see.

Sixteen and a half inches. He has been waiting a long time and is in no hurry.