Male figure
19th–20th century
Object PlaceNigeria
Medium/TechniqueWood, metal
Dimensions72.39 cm (28 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of William E. and Bertha L. Teel
Accession number1996.384
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
The Jukun are thought to be descendants of the Kororofa, a regional state that lasted from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. For coronations of Jukun kings and other ceremonies, paired figures were brought from shrines to receive prayers and offerings for the well-being of the community. This embodiment of a lineage founder has abbreviated legs, hands on the hips of a cylindrical torso, and an overhanging facial plane marked by large ear ornaments and metal eyes. The surface of the hard wood is unpatinated and weathered.
ProvenanceBy 1976, with Pace Primitive and Ancient Art, New York; March, 1991, sold by Pace to William and Bertha Teel, Marblehead, MA; 1996, partial gift of William and Bertha Teel to the MFA; 2014, acquired fully with the bequest of William Teel to the MFA. (Accession Dates: December 18, 1996 and February 26, 2014)
