20th century - Reasonable condition

Anthropomorphic figurine in full terracotta, probably crafted with a coiling technique. It is very typical of the corpus named Bankoni, of the inner Delta of Niger.
Since the object was not subject to thermoluminescence tests for its dating, the selected period is the one of its collection in Mali.

Seated character with a long cylindrical trunk, crossed legs, a broken arm, which is often the case for these kind of objects (ritual break?). A spherical head, accompanied by a neck surrounded by 2 rings in relief. A prominent navel in the middle of scarifications in the form of sun rays. A harness in relief fits tightly around the top of the body. There is a belt around the pelvis. There are different sorts of reliefs on the left arm: a sheath of a knife, bracelets.
The figurine is of a beige colour, with some traces of black due to the heterogeneity of the baking, and the trunk is slightly lustred (the only part that was polished?)
Height: 475 mm. Weight: 4200 grams.
References: "Earth and ore" of K. F. Schaedler . "Vallées du Niger" Catalogue of the RMM p. 536.

Shipment via express parcel (colissimo) with track and trace.