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Equestrian Figure

Photo: Paul Macapia

Equestrian Figure

Senufo

Dogon

Malian

Riding a horse is a noble act in West Africa, signaling the arrival of a warrior or leader. This Senufo rider is obviously a warrior, carrying a spear of great length.
Wood
11 1/4 x 3 11/16 x 10 11/16 in. (28.5 x 9.3 x 27.2 cm)
Overall h.: 12 3/8 in.
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.267
Provenance: [Ed Primus, Los Angeles, California]; sold to Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1961; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistoryNew York, New York, The Museum of Primitive Art, Senufo Sculpture From West Africa, Feb. 20 - May 5, 1963 (Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, July 12 - Aug. 11, 1963; Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore Museum of Art, Sept. 17 - Oct. 27, 1963).

Los Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., pp. 38, 40-41, reproduced pl. 46 (as horse and rider).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, Feb. 7 - May 19, 2002 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 2, 2004 - Jan. 2, 2005; Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, Feb. 12 - June 19, 2005; Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Oct. 8, 2005 - Jan. 1, 2006; Nashville, Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Jan. 27 - Apr. 30, 2006 [as African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back]). Text by Pamela McClusky. No cat. no., pp. 40-41, reproduced. pl. 16 (as Horse and rider).

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, Senufo Unbound: Dynamics of Art and Identity in West Africa, Feb. 22 - May 31, 2015 (St. Louis, Missouri, Saint Louis Art Museum, June 28 - Sept. 27, 2015; Montpellier, France, Musée Fabre, Nov. 28, 2015 - Mar. 6, 2016). Text by Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi. Cat. no. 54, reproduced p. 88.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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