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Ancestor Figure, Bambara, Mali, Wood

Ancestor Figure, Bambara, Mali, Wood

(American, 1910–2007)
1974
Medium/TechniqueBlack pen and ink, brush applied red ink, graphite with porous-tipped black pen on paper
DimensionsSheet: 26 × 35.6 cm (10 1/4 × 14 in.)
Credit LineGift of Martha Richardson and Avrum Belzer
Accession number2019.1941
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDrawings
InscriptionsIn graphite, below image: The Banbara peoples of Mali invoke the memory of the ancient kingom of Mali, the second of three great Sudanese kingdoms of the Niger river, namely Ghana, Mali and Songhai. Mansa Musa, ruler of Mali, was of such fabulous wealth that when he made his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, he carried so much gold with him that the price of gold dropped in the money markets of Cairo. His fame reached even beyond the curtain of silence into medieval Europe to add to its store of legend and mystery about Africa south of the Sahara.
ProvenancePrivate collection, Worcester, MA; by 2019, private collection to Grogan & Co., Boston; by 2019, sold by Grogan & Co. to Martha Richardson and Avrum Belzer, Boston; 2019, gift of Martha Richardson and Avrum Belzer to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 25, 2019)