Warrior Figure

1339-1400; Mali, Inland Niger Delta (Djenne); Terracotta; height 38 cm (15 in.); Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund for African Art; 78.32

This majestic and dignified figure probably represents a warrior king, decked out in elaborately detailed jewelry and armed with a quiver and a distinctive type of dagger on his upper left art. These daggers are still worn by the nomadic Tuareg people, who dominate the caravan routes crossing the Sahara desert. It is quite possible that the warrior was originally mounted on a horse, now destroyed.