Ashanti Bronze Seated Figure: Female

She sits very straight, as if the chair were about to be taken away.

This seated female figure was cast in bronze by Ashanti makers of Ghana, West Africa, in the 20th century. Small cast figures from the Akan world are often connected with proverbs, status and household display. Here a slender woman with a large oval head and wide eyes sits on a low platform, hands resting on her knees. Behind her, a toothed ring rises on either side like a wheel with its spokes removed. The bronze is dark brown, smooth on the limbs and rougher at the base.

About 4 inches tall. Small, odd and quietly commanding on a bookshelf.