Staff finial
date: label: Date
content: Early to mid-19th century
name: label: Maker
content: Bamana artist
notes: label: Label Text
content: Presenting only the essentials of the form, a Bamana blacksmith created this minimal image of a horse and rider, elegant in its stylization and simplification. In Mali, iron ore has been smelted and forged since the end of the first millennium B.C. Blacksmiths of the region still forge iron using techniques developed centuries ago. When heated, iron can be hammered into any desired shape. It hardens into a permanent form as it cools. Smiths are regarded as extraordinary for their ability to transform raw iron into tools, weapons and ritual objects.
label: Label Text
content: This sculpture was once part of a longer iron staff. The horse and female rider suggest the rank and power of the chief and the importance of his family. The rider wears a hat like those worn by other important persons: hunters, ritual specialists and the praise singers or historians known as griots. The portrayal of a female rider recalls those Mande women who have acquired power and earned respect through force of character or ability as a sorcerer and are affiliated with hunters' associations. The horse suggests the powerful cavalry of the Bamana kingdoms. Such staffs were displayed on special occasions to commemorate ancestors or placed near areas sacred to initiation associations such as Jo. It was probably used as a marker for a chief's burial.
label: Description
content: Iron staff finial composed of a female figure with flat, conical hat sits astride a horse on a curved saddle. The shaft of the staff is cut off just below the level of the horse's hooves.
label: Provenance
content: J.J. Klejman, New York, 1963
label: Provenance
content: Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1963 to 1966
label: Provenance
content: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1966 to 1985
label: Exhibition History
content: Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 16, 2019–October 3, 2021
label: Exhibition History
content: Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 25, 1989-September 3, 1990
label: Published References
content: Cole, Herbert. 1989. Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 48, no. 53.
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, p. 23, no. 7.
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: Bougouni area, Mali
topic: label: Topic
content: Funerary
label: Topic
content: Commemorative
label: Topic
content: Initiation
label: Topic
content: Leadership
label: Topic
content: Status
label: Topic
content: equestrian
label: Topic
content: horse
label: Topic
content: male
label: Topic
content: female
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn to the Smithsonian Institution in 1966
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 85-19-1
objectType: label: Type
content: Sculpture
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Iron
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 24.1 x 5.1 x 18.1 cm (9 1/2 x 2 x 7 1/8 in.)