Kotoko Bronze Equestrian Figure

Rider in a beehive headdress sits tall behind a horse with a big scroll

This equestrian figure is Kotoko, from Chad, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is bronze. Horses have long been linked with status and leadership in the Sahel, where mounted riders are often associated with chiefs, warriors and courts. Medium brown, softly worn. A figure wearing a tall headdress of fine horizontal grooves rises behind a horse whose neck ends in a generous double curl. Incised bands drape across the shoulders. Short, pointed legs and a hooked tail. It is 2 inches wide, 0.5 deep and 2.5 high.

Plenty of hat, plenty of horse, no wasted gestures.