2 very similar Djenné terracottas, Mali, 12th to 14th century.

2 very similar Djenné terracottas, Mali, 12th to 14th century. 

A thermoluminescence test by the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA), Oxford University, suggests a last firing date between 1136 and 1436 for the first sculpture. Dates later than the 14th century are unlikely however, as the old city of Djenné-Djenno had been abandoned by then. A similar 12th to 14th century date was provided for the second sculpture. 

The sculptures are part of a small body of works of about twenty objects, believed to belong to a ‘pre-classical period’, identified by their relatively naturalistic anatomy and subtlety of their postures.

The stylistic homogeneity of this body of work suggests that an artist or workshop was honoring commissions for private altars or for a sacred site built in honor of an ancestor or deity.