Mali

[Collection of James J. and Laura Ross. Equestrian: 12th–14th century: Middle Niger civilization. Dimensions: (Approx.) H.26 3/4 × D.7 × L.18 in. (68 × 17.8 × 45.7 cm). So around a couple of feet high. Something which would need a proper shelf]

I am presently working my way through the account of the interaction between western Africa, Europe and the Americas to be found at reference 1. And this afternoon I chanced across the image, lifted from the Met, above. The Met which I now know to be a very large establishment on the south eastern corner of Central Park. A place which I failed to reach in the course of my rather small number of visits to New York.

I had already learned that there were big gold mines in this part of Africa, part of the fuel for the Empire of Mali of reference 3. Helped along with salt and copper. Not an isolated corner of darkest Africa at all, but with, inter alia, strong links to places like Mamluk Egypt and Mecca beyond.

But I did wonder what sort of a civilisation would want statuettes of the sort snapped above. Or more precisely, the rulers of what sort of a civilisation. With enough surplus value and enough surplus time to take an interest in luxury goods of this particular, bibelot sort.

Maybe a rather racist thought as, at roughly the same time, the warrior kings of western Europe were quite happy to pour huge amounts of money into cathedrals, reliquaries and expensive illustrated books. Not to mention tombs and mausoleums. Perhaps also into jewellery. So why should the warrior kings of western Africa not go in for modest equestrian statues?

References

Reference 1: Born in Blackness: Africa, African and the making of the modern world: 1471 to the Second World War – Howard W. French – 2022.

Reference 2: https://www.metmuseum.org/.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Empire.

Reference 4: https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/22/archives/wedding-held-for-mrs-ross.html. These Ross's look to have been monied and successful legal people from Washington/New York.