This dramatic ceramic zoomorphic figure was sculpted by a creative and skillful artisan in the modern nation of Chad. We know little about the Sao culture that created such works. If not for these sculpture, their existence might have been completely forgotten. The Sao Empire, one of the oldest iron working cultures in West Africa, flourished along the banks of Lake Chad between the 10th and 16th centuries A.D. Artistic treasures have been excavated from the ruins of their fortified towns and graves sites, uncovering mythological composite figures made in bronze as well as finely modeled anthropomorphic and zoomorphic terracotta figures such as this example. The highly stylized rendering of this zoomorphic figure displays a stocky body and legs that evince an aura of strength and fortitude.