A Superb Djenné Bronze Pendant, Mali

The old town of Djenné, Jenne-Jeno, was founded around 800 on an island in the inland Niger Delta of Mali (Schaedler 1997: 32). Trade relations with countries north of the Sahara resulted in both economic prosperity and an exchange with Islamic cultures that is reflected in some of the artistic imagery of Djenné sculpture. Most of the works discovered on the site of ancient Djenné date between the 12^th and 16^th centuries; they were found during the annual inundation of the Niger Delta when the water uncovers objects from the overlaying soil (ibid.).

While the kneeling human is a common theme in Djenné sculpture (see Schaedler 1997: 37, fig. 38 for a cast of closely related iconography and ibid.: 33, figs. 31 et seq., 40, fig. 42 for other kneeling figure pendants), the serenity and monumentality of the Stanoff pendant is striking, earning it a place among the great examples of Djenné cast sculpture.