EQUESTRIAN FIGURE GIMBALA, SOUTHERN MALI

the bronze equestrian figure cast with a rider seated astride a horse with bent knees tucked inwards and holding two long attributes forming a cross before him, the animal depicted with the neck leaning forward echoing the backswept tail, encrusted with a green patina scattered with small areas of brown cuprite

Jacques Viault, Paris.
Alexandre Bernand, Paris.
Galerie Jacques Germain, Montreal.

Jacques Germain, Arts ancien de l’Afrique noire, vol. VI, Montreal, 2013, p. 19.

Excellent condition overall. Varied encrusted green patina covering the lost wax cast equestrian figure. Small areas of loss to the top of the head, possibly from casting.
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This rare bronze equestrian figure from the region of Gimbala, which lies in the great inland Niger Delta, to the south of the celebrated city of Timbuktu in Mali. Both terracotta and bronze equestrian figures have been discovered in this region, and the subject matter reflects the importance cavalry played in the succession of empires – the Mali empire, the Songhai empire, and the Bambara of the Segu Kingdom –which contested and conquered the region from circa 1230 AD.

The attenuated limbs of both horse and rider, in particular the rider’s long neck, are characteristic of bronzes from the Gimbala region. Whilst majestic, the pose of the equestrian bronzes is occasionally hieratic to the point of stasis. Here the composition is given movement, as well as balance, by the rhythm of the rider’s outstretched arms and tucked in legs, the crossed attributes which he holds, and the forward motion of the horse, with its thrusting neck mirrored by the backswept tail.

The attenuation of the human and equestrian form by these artists in 16th century Africa, was an attribute that drew the attention of the great twentieth century artists, notably Giacometti in the case of the elongated bronzes.