This powerful stone sculpture of a woman and her child is possibly a unique piece, made by one of the most inscrutable groups in pre-colonial Africa: the Bura. The vast majority of Bura pieces are cephalomorphic or phallomorphic, and are additionally deconstructed to the point of abstraction. Fuller length figures, especially those with any detail below the neck, are vanishingly rare. Most of those that exist are made of ceramic and are believed to be the remains of equestrian statues that once decorated the apexes of large ceramic vessels. Stone pieces are usually either phallic, or shaped so that they can be thrust into the ground, presumably as mobiliary devotional pieces. This piece is there unusual for numerous reasons. The body is clublike, with a slightly tapering silhouette from the shoulders down, and a rounded base beneath a cinched waist. The neck is columnar and wide, and like the rest of the figure comparatively slim from front to back. The face is domed with a square jaw, the features rendered as coffee-bean eyes and mouth and a short, curved nose. The ears are protuberant but abraded, the hair registered as hatched incised lines. There are three vertical scars on each cheek. The arms are shown as small eminences that modify the silhouette of the piece, while the only other conventional detail beneath the neck is the umbilicus and the breasts. Uniquely, the figure has a small second figure carved in low relief on the back. The way it is standing seems to suggest that it is a baby or small child being carried – it is in rear view itself. This is a remarkable and rare piece, and possibly unique.

The Bura are a true paradox: almost nothing is known of this shadowy Nigerian/Malian group. They appear to have originated in the first half of the first millennium AD, although the only archaeologically-excavated site (Nyamey) dates between the 14th and 16th centuries. They are contemporary with – and probably related to – the Djenne Kingdom, the Koma, the Teneku and a satellite culture known as the Inland Niger Delta. Insofar as can be ascertained, the Bura share certain characteristics with these groups; for our purposes, these include extensive ceramic and stone sculptural traditions. The Bura appear to have been sedentary agriculturists who buried their dead in tall, conical urns, often surmounted by small figures. Their utilitarian vessels are usually plain, while other “containers” – the function of which is not understood – are often decorated with incised and stamped patterns. Their best-known art form is radically reductivist anthropomorphic stone statues, with heads rendered as squares, triangles and ovals, with the body suggested by a columnar, monolithic shape beneath. Phallic objects are also known; some phallomorphic objects may have been staffs, perhaps regalia pertaining to leaders of Bura groups. Ceramic heads are usually more complex than their stone counterparts, with incised decoration and variable treatment of facial proportions and features. There are a few very rare equestrian figures, which bear some resemblance to Djenne pieces; almost no intact human or equestrian figures are known. The range of figures is so large that it presumably indicates differing geographical and temporal trends in aesthetics within the Bura polity. Equally, similar figures with different scarifications of coiffures could imply production by a range of different workshops or areas. However, without more complete contextual information it is impossible to explore this possibility, and it is necessary to glean what we can from the art itself.

The role of these figures is almost totally obscure. Equestrian figures probably represent high status individuals, and the very few full-body representations of humans may be portraits or ancestor figures. Intuitively – as with so many other groups both inside and beyond Africa – figures with exaggerated sexual characteristics would tend to be associated with fertility and fecundity, as would any artefact modelled in the shape of pudenda (although the sceptre-like qualities of some such pieces should be noted – see above). The distribution of decoration on some ceramic pieces (notably phalluses) may suggest that they were designed to be viewed from one angle only – perhaps as adorational pieces. Many pieces are believed to have been found in burials, perhaps implying an importance that would have been linked to social standing and status.

This may be a maternity or votive/shrine figure. Whatever its intended function, however, it is also an exceptionally rare and desirable sculpture from one of Africa’s lost civilisations.