Dakakari Horse and Rider Clay Figure Nigeria Africa Start Price USD 780.00 Current Price USD 780.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, November 09, 2008 End Time Tuesday, December 09, 2008 Location Denver, CO See more about 'Dakakari Horse and Rider Clay Figure Nigeria Africa' Description Title: Horse  and rider clay figure Type of Object: Clay sculptureEthnic Group: DakakariCountry of Origin:NigeriaMaterials: ClayApproximate Age: UnknownDimensions: Height 19.5 inches, length 15 inches Overall Condition: GoodDamage, Repair:  indigenous repair to  both front legs, chips, stain (black)Information: This horse and rider come from the Dakkakari(Dakakari) who today are a relatively small ethnic group living in the western reaches of northern Nigeria.  They are well known for their funerary sculpture that served as burial markers and memorials on the graves of chiefs, warriors, renowned hunters and social elite. These recognized ancestors were said to be the 'children of the god's' who have gone to live with them.  Graves were surrounded by small rounded walls made out of mud for families and stone for prominent men. (Fitzgerald 1944) Various stylized human and animal figures were found on graves sculpted in clay with imagination and skill.  Some of the figures appeared to combine human and animal forms into fanciful human animal combination.  This horse does indeed appear to have a stylized human face but this could well be a local stylization.  Horse and rider figures are known as well as elaborate elephants, birds and humans standing on pots.  In fact many of the animals and human figures are modeled onto the upper surface of a pot that may be an earlier tradition found in a broad swath across northern Nigeria, Cameroon as well as Niger and Chad which saw pots placed upon grave sites.  This human figure as well as the animal/horse have lines of decoration on their up turned faces that could well have been shaped to receive offerings and to present a face to face view.  Sculptures such as this were said to have been made by women who learned the process from their mothers.  African terracotta (baked clay) figures are at once some of oldest recorded sculpture from Sub-Saharan Africa but equally some of the most problematical as well.  They often are difficult to place among a people or culture and equally difficult to date.  The softened features of this figure indicate some long age and wear through time and perhaps location.  African terracotta figures are fired at a low temperature and are subject to surface abrasion and wear, therefore details of the face or body parts and dress or jewelry may be lost through wear and age.  It has also been reported that the tradition of funerary ceramics among the Dakakari is no longer practiced. Additional Readings:  FitzGerald, R. T. D. (1944). Dakakari grave pottery. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Journal, 1944, no. 74: 33-41Paulme-Schaeffner Denise, Pottery Grave and House Ornaments in West Africa in, Man, Vol. 49, Feb., 1949, pp. 24-24Bassing, Allen, Grave Monuments of the DakakariAfrican Arts, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Summer, 1973), pp. 36-39  I have examined this figure and agree with the descriptionNiangi Batulukisi, PhD **041747** All content, including pictures, Copyright Africa Direct Inc., 2006 Add Us To Your Favorite Sellers! Please visit our About Us page. SquareTrade © AP6.0 PesaMember Place a Bid!