Male figure
date: label: Date
content: 15th-17th century
name: label: Maker
content: Nomoli Style
label: Maker
content: Temne artist
label: Maker
content: Bullom artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: This figure wears a bracelet and headdress. The latter is a twisted band similar to examples worn by Temne chiefs at their installations. The figure rides either an elephant or a leopard. Because neither animal was ridden in West Africa, the relationship between the figure and the animal is probably symbolic. The elephant is a metaphor for the king's strength based on the support of a broad constituency, and the leopard represents the ruler's unbridled power to administer justice, to seize what is naturally his and to protect his people.
label: Label Text
content: Called nomoli in Mende, this figure is one among many similar examples that have been found throughout southeastern Sierra Leone and neighboring Guinea. Recent scholarship has identified the makers of the figures as the Sapi, whose present-day linguistic descendants are the Baga, Temne and Bullom. Stylistically they are similar to Sapi Portuguese ivory carvings dated to the 15th and 16th centuries. The Sapi tradition of carving stone figures probably dates at least to the 15th century. While no longer made, such figures have been found in the ground and are reused in a variety of ritual contexts by peoples in the area such as the Mende, Bullom and Kono.
label: Label Text
content: The original purpose of such figures is the subject of ongoing debate, but the attributes of other examples and the customs of local inhabitants have caused scholars to speculate that the figures were commemorative, representing the regenerative force of an identifiable, honored ancestor or a recently deceased prominent person.
label: Description
content: Male figure on an animal identified as either an elephant or possibly a leopard. His elbows are on his knees and his hands are placed under his chin. The face has large features.
label: Provenance
content: René Guyot, Monrovia, Liberia, -- to 1982
label: Provenance
content: Mrs. René Guyot, Florida and Switzerland, 1982
label: Provenance
content: Emile M. Deletaille, Brussels, 1982 to 1985
label: Exhibition History
content: Slavery and Freedom, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 2016 (ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th & 17th Centuries, National Museum of African Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 23-September 16, 2007; Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles
label: Published References
content: Arnoldi, Mary Jo and Christine Mullen Kreamer. 1995. Crowning Achievements: African Arts of Dressing the Head. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, p. 13, no. 1.4.
label: Published References
content: Levenson, Jay A. (ed). 2007. Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th & 17th Centuries. Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, p. 151, no. A-4.
label: Published References
content: National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 35-36, no. 16B.
label: Published References
content: Phaidon (eds). 2007. 30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space. London, New York: Phaidon Press, p. 759.
label: Published References
content: Tagliaferri, Aldo and Arno Hammacher. 1974. Fabulous Ancestors. New York: Africana Press, no. 9-10.
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Sierra Leone
label: Geography
content: Guinea
title: label: Object Name
content: <I>nomoli</I>
topic: label: Topic
content: elephant
label: Topic
content: equestrian
label: Topic
content: male
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum purchase
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 85-1-3
objectType: label: Type
content: Figure
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Steatite
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 19 x 10 x 12.3 cm (7 1/2 x 3 15/16 x 4 13/16 in.)