Kotoko Bronze Equestrian Figure

Lopsided and lumpy, this little beast leans on its stitches and a pale tusk.

This equestrian figure from the Kotoko peoples is Kotoko, from Chad, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is bronze & leather. The Kotoko are a group of peoples living around Lake Chad, and their towns have a long history of trade and of small-scale bronze casting. Small stuffed form in reddish brown grainy skin, stitched at the seams with pale thread. A cream-colored horn or tusk sits at one end and a strap loop pokes up on top. Two short feet are visible. It is 2.25 inches wide, 0.75 deep and 2.5 high.

Not anatomically precise, but remarkably determined.