Two Antique Niger Bura Peoples Fired Clay Heads on Stands

Between the 3rd and 10th centuries, the dead were laid to rest at a site in present-day Niger downstream from the Inland Niger delta. The burial ground’s density and expanse suggest a veritable city of the departed. Several hundred individual graves were marked by upturned pottery urns, some of which were cylinders topped by figurative imagery. The most elaborate of these were full-bodied equestrians, while the most basic were highly abstract, independent heads.

Note: These figures will be professionally packed by a specialist shipper at the sellers expense.

Dimensions:
11.25″h x 6.75″w x 3″d and 8″h x 3.75″w (incl. stands)

Condition:
Good, wear consistent with age and materials

Provenance:
Acquired by the present owner from Dr. David Rilling, 1990s.

About Dr. David Rilling.
A Pennsylvania based medical doctor, Dr Rilling began collecting African and Oceanic antiques in the early 1970s, when he purchased some pieces that had been deaccessioned from the University of Pennsylvania Museum collection. Over the years that followed, he enlarged his collection just as any collector does—through buying and trading and occasionally selling to justify more purchases. Today the bulk of his collection can be found at The Trout Gallery at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA of which Dr. Rilling was an alumnus.