Stone Fragment of a Head

Kissi, Precolonial Sierra Leone

13th - 15th century

Stone

9cm Tall

Provenance:

Jean-Paul Chazal, Paris

Bruce Frank, New York

The history of Stone artworks in Sierra Leone is quite vague, since there is little to no historical record of the societies and artists which produced them. Most are found by farmers when digging new fields, and in contemporary times they are often either sold or placed in the chest cavity of ritual wooden figures called ‘Pom’kadya’. This small stone head is likely a fragment of a larger figure which was broken apart in the earth and discovered only as a fragment. The unique expression - while worn - still retains the refinement of carving which it had when made and retains fine linework on the back and face representing a unique look into pre-colonial artistic sensibilities in the Upper Guinea Coast