A Koro sculpture, from Plateau state, Nigeria, for ritual medicine, fine, resinous patina. This ritual sculpture from Nigeria, typically used in the context of medicinal and protective practices, reflects the intricate intersection between material culture and indigenous belief systems in central Nigeria. The Koro people, who inhabit areas in Kaduna State, are known for their distinct yet understudied sculptural traditions. Their ritual objects often serve specific functions within healing practices and spiritual mediation. The sculpture in question, likely carved from wood and occasionally enhanced with materials such as metal, clay, or organic substances, would have been employed by ritual specialists or diviners. These figures often embody ancestral or spiritual intermediaries invoked for the treatment of illness, protection against malevolent forces, or the restoration of communal well-being. The human form is usually abstracted and stylized, emphasizing the head and torso, which are regarded as seats of power and identity in many Nigerian cultures. Unlike purely aesthetic objects, these figures were not created for display but were activated through sacrificial substances, chants, and ritual processes. Their efficacy resided not in the form alone but in the continual engagement with spiritual forces. As such, traces of libations, burn marks, or encrustations are integral to their meaning, indicating their use and potency within ritual life. Despite their functional origins, Koro sculptures occupy a significant place within the broader history of West African ritual arts. Their comparative rarity in collections and scholarship stems in part from the limited ethnographic research conducted among the Koro people, whose ritual practices were often overshadowed by neighboring groups such as the Gwari or the Jukun. Further contextualization of such objects underscores the necessity of considering their use within local cosmologies and social structures, where illness and misfortune are often interpreted through metaphysical lenses rather than biomedical paradigms. The Koro sculpture thus serves as a material document of indigenous therapeutic systems and their negotiation with spiritual causality. References: Fardon, Richard. Between God, the Dead and the Wild: Chamba Interpretations of Ritual and Religion. Edinburgh University Press, 1991. Clarke, Duncan. The Art of African Medicine. Collins, 1996. Bacquart, Jean-Baptiste. The Tribal Arts of Africa. Thames and Hudson, 1998. Picton, John. “What’s in a Figure? Or, the Possibility of African Art.” African Languages and Cultures, vol. 5, no. 1, 1992, pp. 5–26. CAB29583