Kissi Torso Figure with Drum-Form Body

Topped by a tousled head, the body is built like a drum.

This stone figure comes from Kissi territory in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and is dated in the record to the 17th century. Stone figures of the Kissi are commonly associated with ancestors and with the land in which they turn up. A small head with tufted hair and pierced eyes rests on a ringed neck. The body is a short fluted cylinder, banded at the base, much like a drum. The grey stone is weathered and matte, with a tool-worked, faintly gritty finish.

About 6 inches tall. Pocket-sized, and quietly older than the furniture around it.