Bura Head

Head
Bura people, Niger
Stone
Height: 46,5 cm
10th - 12th century
Price on request

Stone sculpture is documented in West Africa from the end of the Neolithic period. This Bura effigy was placed at the top of a tumulus or a funeral urn. The monolithic sculpture of great stylistic purity goes to the essential here: a long spherical neck extending through two lateral appendages representing the ears and framing a round face, a long median nose which divides it along its entire length and two small half-spherical eyes. The archaeological site of Bura-Asinda-Sikka which gave its name to this style, is located in the middle valley of the Niger river. This art essentially funerary is known to the public since the 1993 Parisian exhibition, “Valleys of Niger”.

PRESENTED BY:
Olivier Larroque