Figure of a Ewe

Djenne peoples

13th–15th century

Medium/TechniqueTerracotta

DimensionsOverall: 71.1 x 25.4 x 91.4 cm (28 x 10 x 36 in.)

Credit LineBequest of William E. Teel to the MFA for transfer to the Republic of Mali

Accession numberAPP.2014.229

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsSculpture

Collections

Africa and Oceania

ProvenanceAbout 1986/1987, fragments of the figure probably discovered at the village of Dary, Mali [see note 1]. 1988, sold by Samba Kamissoko (dealer), Bamako, Mali to Davis Gallery, New Orleans [see note 2]; March, 1989, sold by Davis Gallery to William Teel (b. 1924 - d. 2012) and Bertha Teel (b. 1918 - d. 1995), Marblehead, MA; bequeathed by William Teel to the MFA but not accessioned; February 8, 2022, transferred by the MFA to the Republic of Mali [see note 3].

NOTES: [1] According to Michel Brent, "Faking African Art," Archaeology 54, no. 1 (January-February 2001): 28, fragments of the Ewe were found during an illicit excavation that took place between 1986 and 1987.

[2] According to information provided by Davis Gallery at the time of the sale, the figure was found in an archaeological site near Mopti, Mali. Michel Brent and Roderick J. McIntosh, "The Rape of Mali," Archaeology 47, no. 3 (May-June 1994): 31 discuss the seizure in 1991 of illegally exported Malian antiquities shipped to the U.S. by Kamissoko, who spent a year in prison for trafficking art objects.

[3] The Ewe was left to the MFA in the bequest of William Teel, but was not accessioned. In 2013, the Museum contacted the Ministry of Culture in Mali asking if export of the figure had been approved, and the Ministry of Culture confirmed that it had not. The MFA began to arrange for the return of the Ewe to Mali. Discussions continued from that time until 2022, when the agreement between Mali and the MFA was finalized, allowing for the restitution of the figure.