Makonde Standing Male Figure, Based

White from the neck to the waist, black from there down, and very long in the leg.

This standing male figure, on a base, is Makonde, from Tanzania, East Africa, early 20th century, in carved wood with pigment. The Makonde of Tanzania and Mozambique are widely known as carvers, and figures of ancestors hold an important place in their tradition. A narrow white head, with block-like ears, a long nose and a pointed chin, sits on a tapered neck. The arms hang straight from square shoulders, and a round navel marks the flat torso. His anatomy is stated plainly. The legs are dark, rough and impossibly slender. Seventy-three and a half inches high.

At just over six feet, he looks you in the eye.