Bobo Bronze Standing Figure

It has been pressed thin, and the green has crept up its legs like moss on a gatepost.

Bobo metalworkers of Burkina Faso, West Africa, cast this standing figure in bronze in the 19th century. Small bronze figures from this region are commonly associated with protection, ritual and personal charms. The figure is slender and flattened, with arms bent and hands at the waist, a pronounced head with a pierced eye, and long straight legs. The surface is heavily textured, with pitting and a dark, mottled patina. Traces of green corrosion gather in the hollows and along the lower body.

About 8 inches tall. Age has done most of the styling here.