Urhobo Equestrian Figure - Delta State, Nigeria Carved from a single block of wood, the sculpture depicts an upright equestrian figure on a stylized horse. Its strictly frontal posture is emphasized by two vertical attributes: a curved blade and a long staff. The elongated head with narrow eyes, protruding mouth, and tall headdress lends the figure a dignified, almost otherworldly presence. Neck rings, arm and leg bands, and faint traces of bluish and lighter pigmentation enliven the darkly patinated surface. The horse is deliberately depicted in miniature: its proportions reflect not anatomical reality, but rather the rank and spiritual authority of the rider. The Urhobo people live in the western Niger Delta, primarily in present-day Delta State. Their sculpture is closely associated with shrines to ancestors, community founders, and spiritual powers. Monumental figures, known as edjo re akare ("spirits in carved form"), could represent deified founders and heroic figures of a community. Equestrian iconography and weaponry can therefore be interpreted as symbols of prestige, military strength, and otherworldly power. Literature (selection): Perkins Foss: “Urhobo Statuary for Spirits and Ancestors,” African Arts 9/4, 1976. Perkins Foss (ed.): Where Gods and Mortals Meet: Continuity and Renewal in Urhobo Art, New York/Ghent 2004. Martha G. Anderson / Philip M. Peek (eds.): Ways of the Rivers: Arts and Environment of the Niger Delta, Los Angeles 2002. Some of the information is generated by artificial intelligence and is based on published sources from the fields of ethnography, archaeology, and art history. Inv. No. MAZ24058