Seated Katsina Figure

This seated figure is a classic work from the beginning of the first millennium C.E. from a region of the Sahel that now lies in northern Nigeria. Works of this general style are identified as “Katsina,” characterized by their tubular, inverted vessel forms with applied three-dimensional arms and legs and a well-defined face (or faces) at the closed top end. The bottoms of Katsina figures are always open, although they are typically filled with compacted alluvial earth, as is the case here. This particular example is missing an arm and a leg but is otherwise in remarkable condition for its age. The piece was purchased at an unknown date by the late Irwin Hersey, a well known New York City collector, appraiser and publisher of a tribal art newsletter who was active from the 1960s to the 1980s. This a beautiful work depicting a bearded man wearing what appears to be a textile cap.

20.5″

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