Bidspirit auction | African Djenne Terracotta Sculpture, Horse/Rider

African Djenne Terracotta Sculpture, Horse/Rider (Mali) - Large African Djenne Terracotta Equestrian Sculpture - Horse and Rider - Dogon, Mali | Djenne terracottas were made over a period of several centuries. Although horses were introduced into Africa during the second millennium B.C., they continued to be rare and were generally only owned by the wealthy. Therefore, the Djenne horse and rider sculptures were considered objects of prestige. The rider would have been someone of high rank, either a king, warrior, or a founding ancestor. The sculpture is in antique condition. Both sides of the rider's feet have been reattached and the head has been partially reattached but is in stable condition. The horse's feet have some chips missing but the sculpture still looks great. It measures 22”W x 6”L x 17”H. This item is part of the Estate of Dr. Ora Eads, PhD, Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Ead's Ethnographic Art Collection included over 250 items of rare African Art, some of which were donated to Tennessee Tech University for a museum, and other pieces were made part of the Eads Museum (which was later absorbed into the Tennessee University museum network). Although the collection was fairly well documented, we are still going through thousands of pages of poorly indexed material. While confident we will locate the provenance for this piece, the only assurance that can be provided at this time is that the collection has been widely viewed as authentic. Should we located this item's records, we will let you know.